Venezuela warns Madrid, ‘don’t cross the red line’

(ANSA) – CARACAS, SEPTEMBER 17 – Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil said that in a telephone conversation with his Spanish counterpart José Manuel Albares he communicated to Pedro Sánchez’s government that “he will not tolerate an escalation of aggression and interference by Spain”. Gil accused the European country of having become “a haven for terrorists and criminals linked to fascism” in Venezuela. “The failure to recognize our constitutional institutions is a red line, a Guaidó 2.0 will fail again. Our country is ready to take action to protect its sovereignty”, he added, referring to Juan Guaidó, the former deputy who in 2019 was recognized as interim president by about 50 countries after the 2018 presidential elections, won by Maduro but not recognized by most European countries and the United States. “We have dismantled and revealed a terrorist plan that wanted to attack the people, assassinate the president, the vice president and other officials, directed by a US military man and with people of Spanish origin involved,” the Venezuelan Foreign Minister denounced. “These people have been publicly identified by the Ministry of the Interior” in Caracas, Gil added, and “the preliminary investigations implicate these Spanish citizens in the terrorist acts, who also have links with the Spanish National Intelligence Center. This is what I have transmitted directly to Minister Albares.” The Venezuelan Foreign Minister concluded by asking the Spanish government to “immediately rectify, unambiguously condemn terrorism and assume the commitments that correspond to it within the framework of international law.” (ANSA).