Criticism mounts over the meeting held at the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas, where opposition leader Edmundo González was forced to sign a document to be exiled, with the Rodríguez brothers, a collaborator of the democratic candidate, and the Spanish representative, Ramón Santos, present.
A senior official from the Brazilian Government told the Financial Times that the Rodríguez brothers visited the residence to pressure González, something that "should never have been allowed". "Maduro pushed [González] out of the country through intimidation and... the Spanish government was the main facilitator," said the official. "They have to explain what they did and be held accountable." EL MUNDO reported that former president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero and Eudoro González, collaborator of the democratic candidate in the June 28 elections, facilitated the entire process.
The Brazilian official stated that he understood that Zapatero had discussed the plan to exile González to Spain with the Rodríguez couple "and helped put it into practice". The Financial Times noted that it was not possible to contact Zapatero for comments.
As in previous occasions during the Lula Government, foreign policy divided opinions between the Presidency at the Planalto Palace and the Foreign Ministry at Itamaraty. According to EL MUNDO, this senior official from the Brazilian Executive expressed opinions about Spain without the involvement of the Foreign Ministry. After June 28, Brazil has only requested records and advocated for dialogue.
Celso Amorim, former Foreign Minister, is currently Lula's advisor on international affairs and heavily involved in the Venezuelan crisis as the president's special envoy, as reported by Sebastián Fest. Amorim stated last week that Lula would not attend the inauguration ceremony if Maduro finally takes office in January. When asked by EL MUNDO, Amorim was firm: "I absolutely ignore those statements."
Another point in the British article mentions that a source close to González from the Venezuelan opposition stated that the declaration in which he categorically denied being coerced by the Spanish Government was made after an "urgent request" from the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares.
When asked by this newspaper, official sources from the Foreign Ministry stated: "Regarding Edmundo González's statement, we refer you to him for any questions, as the statement belongs to him. His explanation about the ambassador's role helped clarify the serious and false accusations by [Alberto Núñez] Feijóo," reported Marina Pina.
The Financial Times article is very critical of Spain's role in the Venezuelan crisis, as it includes the opinion of Christopher Sabatini, an expert in Latin America from Chatham House, who stated that the signing under such circumstances "violates the very notion of diplomatic asylum, making the Spanish government an accomplice to electoral theft and the repression of the Maduro government."
This week, Edmundo González, who revealed through a statement on Twitter that he was "coerced" by Chavismo to go into exile, denied in a subsequent intervention any coercion by the Spanish Government. Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, also denied that the Pedro Sánchez Government had any involvement in the meeting at the Spanish legation in Caracas.
The British publication also presents the opinion of Ryan Berg, director of the Americas program at the CSIS think tank in Washington, who stated: "The available evidence seems to suggest that Spain played a role in allowing the forced exile of Edmundo González by the regime, a harsh blow to Venezuelans who hoped for change and voted for him."