Madrid. The Spanish Congress of Deputies will approve this Wednesday a non-law proposal in which opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia is recognized as the “elected and legitimate president of Venezuela”, for which reason the Executive, presided by the socialist Pedro Sánchez, is urged to do the same officially. The initiative was presented by the right-wing Popular Party (PP) and had the support of the extreme right of Vox, the Union of the Navarrese People (UPN), the Canary Islands Coalition and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), which is the key to the proposal going ahead by breaking with its traditional alignment with the majority block of the investiture, adding together 177 deputies of the 350 that make up the Chamber.
Hundreds of Venezuelans gathered outside the Spanish Congress to demand that the European international community also accept that the elections of July 28 were won by the opposition bloc and not by the candidacy of Nicolás Maduro, as determined by the country’s electoral authorities.
Although the vote will take place in the plenary session on Wednesday, the political parties set out their position during the previous debate, in which all eyes were on the PNV spokesman, Aitor Esteban, as he was the only party that could tip the balance in favour of the proposal of the Spanish right, which has been allied for years with the Venezuelan opposition in exile.
The Basque politician explained the meaning of his vote: “We have no time for nuances. We are clear that we will always be facing repression, dictatorship and obscurantism. Against Maduro. You cannot give him an inch. Unfortunately for the country and the Venezuelan people, Venezuela is used as a battering ram in this Chamber so that the two major parties can throw darts at each other, generally with the PP leading this strategy. But I hope that the Popular Party knows how to understand the moment and also handle the situation. I want to say that there is no need for crude speeches and there is no need to go beyond certain lines that make no sense for the restoration of democracy in Venezuela.”
The parliamentary proposal has no legal effect and is not even binding on the government, which may or may not adopt it as its own, although it is a political message that is in line with what is expected to be debated and approved in the coming weeks in the European Parliament, where a similar motion is also expected and which seems likely to be approved by the large majority of the right, which also has the support of some social democratic and liberal parties on this issue.
The parties in the government coalition, the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and Sumar, expressed their displeasure with the direction of the debate, although the socialists announced that they would not vote on the motion, while the deputies of Sumar and the rest of the left will vote against it and with speeches in which they branded Edmundo González as the “leader of the extreme right” and defended the democratic institutions of Venezuela that endorsed Maduro’s electoral victory.
In addition, the PSOE presented an amendment urging Parliament to recognise the “work” of former President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, arguing that thanks to his mediation “the release of dozens of Venezuelan prisoners” has been achieved.
While the debate was taking place, hundreds of Venezuelans gathered outside Congress, including some political leaders who live in Spain under the status of political asylum, such as Leopoldo López, Antonio Ledesma and Lilian Tintori. Among the chants they persistently launched were “Spain, listen, join the fight”, “You can see it, you can feel it, Edmundo president” and “Maduro, criminal”. Although some demonstrators expected Edmundo González himself to attend the rally, he did not appear, but his daughter, Carolina, read a few words on his behalf: Carolina González read a few words on her father’s behalf. “Venezuelans, in this beautiful demonstration I want to reaffirm the commitment I made to you on July 28. My thanks go to all those who voted for me and also to all those who could not do so because of the tricks of a National Electoral Council that prevented it. I call on the international community to contribute to ratifying the will of the people for the restoration of democracy and freedom in Venezuela. María Corina and I assure you that this fight that we began will continue until we achieve the objectives we set for ourselves.”
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– 2024-09-18 20:37:13