Spanish Congress's Failed Shot at Venezuela

By Misión Verdad – Sep 11, 2024

The Spanish government seems to have opted for a cautious strategy in the context of the recent non-legislative proposal of the Popular Party that seeks to promote the illegal recognition of Edmundo González as the winner of the presidential elections in Venezuela, thereby ignoring the results issued by the CNE that declared Nicolás Maduro the winner.

Faced with the Spanish far-right’s movement in Congress, the government’s spokesperson, Pilar Alegría, and President Pedro Sánchez, during their visit to China, confirmed the Spanish government’s intention to wait for a common position within the European Union before making unilateral decisions.

Sánchez has demanded the “publication of the voting records,” reaffirmed the decision not to recognize the victory of President Nicolás Maduro, and emphasized the need to “find a solution that conveys the democratic will expressed at the polls.” It is likely that Spain’s approach will ultimately be determined by that of the US; therefore, Spain awaits the results of the US election.

The Spanish president also defended the granting of asylum to González as a “gesture of humanity” in the face of criticism from extremist sectors in Venezuela and Spain that question the agreements reached with the Maduro government to grant the asylum.

Initiative without legal binding force
Following the arrival of Edmundo González in Spain on September 8, the Congress of that country debated and approved today a Non-Law Proposal urging the government to recognize him as “president-elect of Venezuela” and requesting, among other measures, to promote sanctions against Venezuela.

The proposal, presented by the Popular Party (PP) in August, was debated on September 10 in the Lower House and was approved today by 177 votes in favor, 164 against and one abstention.

The result has been a symbolic recognition of González as “president-elect” by the Congress.

The international media focus surrounding this action presents it as a crucial milestone in Spain’s recognition of González. The media highlighted the presence of his daughter in the Chamber, together with the fugitives from Venezuelan justice Antonio Ledezma and Leopoldo López, as well as the rally called by María Corina Machado for Venezuelan migrants in Madrid.

Concentración contra el Régimen de Maduro en Venezuela, frente al Congreso de los Diputados, y en reivindicación de la figura de Edmundo González como Presidente legítimo.
📸 César Vallejo Rodríguez
Abro hilo. pic.twitter.com/iMTRPLcRzl
— César Vallejo (@CesarVallejoRgz) September 10, 2024

However, in Spanish legislation, a non-legislative motion is a parliamentary initiative without legal binding force on the government. Its main function is to reflect the political position of a party or parliamentary group and to encourage debate and political action without generating legal obligations for the executive.

During the debate, Congress witnessed discrepancies between the parliamentary groups. Although both the PP and the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) oppose President Maduro’s government and refuse to recognize the legitimacy of the results of July 28, there is a divergence in the approach to the specific situation of Edmundo González.

The PP, unlike the PSOE, advocates recognizing González as the winner of the elections. This position is supported by the far-right party Vox, the Union of the Navarrese People (UPN), the Canary Islands Coalition, and the Basque Nationalist Party (PNV), whose final support was key to the vote.

Speaking in the debate, PP’s Deputy Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo presented the motion as a response from Spain to the “repression in Venezuela” and considered the asylum given to Edmundo González as an “operation designed by the dictatorship, organized by Zapatero, and facilitated by the Spanish Government.” This implies an open contradiction with the PP’s own requests for Pedro Sánchez to play a more active role in the post-election controversy in Venezuela.

The PSOE, for its part, rejected the PP initiative for three reasons:

1. Lack of international recognition: no EU country has recognized González as president-elect, and the EU has shown no intention of doing so.
2. Juan Guaidó’s precedent: the path proposed by the PP was already taken with Juan Guaidó, without practical results.
3. Potential obstacle to negotiations: González’s recognition could hinder negotiations for a solution to the situation in Venezuela.

MP Cristina Narbona criticized the PP’s stance and urged to avoid “Venezuelans once again being the battering ram of the Popular Party against anything that Pedro Sánchez’s government does.”

The PP, while pushing for a more aggressive stance towards the Venezuelan government, seeks to weaken Sánchez’s government in the general context of Spanish politics.

Although this initiative only has symbolic value, it works as a narrative weapon for the PP because it can fuel differences within the governing coalition, as happened with the support of the PNV, the parliamentary partner of the PSOE that has always been characterized by opportunism.

For his part, President Sánchez, by reaffirming his position by highlighting the contradictions of the PP in its attempts to exert pressure on the executive, maintains control over the criteria that guide his government’s response to the Venezuelan issue.

Initially, the PP demanded that the government grant asylum to Edmundo González based on the argument that he was in danger in Venezuela. However, after granting the asylum, some members of the PP, such as MP Cayetana Álvarez, criticized the decision, arguing that it benefited the Venezuelan president.

The internal contradiction within the party became more evident when Alberto Núñez Feijóo, leader of the conservative party, declared that he had taken the same decision as the government.

“When I listen to the opposition, it’s the same old thing: saying ‘no’ to everything the government does, no matter what and no matter where. If we provide asylum, it’s because we provide asylum; if we don’t provide asylum, it’s because we don’t. They are left naked in their inconsistency.”

European reluctance towards a Plan Guaidó 2.0
The result of the PP’s motion in Spain is presented as a prelude to the debate that the European Parliament will hold next week in Strasbourg, when it plans to vote on a resolution to recognize Edmundo González as “president-elect” in its first plenary session after the European elections.

Several political groups, including the European People’s Party, Renew Europe, the European Conservatives and Reformists Group, and part of the Alliance of Socialists and Democrats (S&D), have called for the inclusion of this issue on the agenda, with a debate scheduled for Tuesday with the participation of the high representative of the union, Josep Borrell, and a vote on a resolution on Thursday.

So far, the official position of the European Union is aligned with that of the Spanish government: it rejects President Maduro’s victory but rejects the demand of Venezuelan far-right opposition sectors that demand the recognition of Edmundo González as president-elect. Furthermore, the UE maintains its request for the “publication of the voting records.”

Venezuela’s Far-Right Former Presidential Candidate Flees to Spain, Granted Asylum

The failure of the Guaidó experiment is too recent for Europe to feel confident in repeating a similar tactic, especially when the actors in charge of implementing this scenario, both inside and outside Venezuela, are exhibiting greater signs of rapid exhaustion in supporting it than those observed during the first attempt to establish a parallel government. The supposed winning candidate decided to leave Venezuela and distance himself, for now, from María Corina Machado’s coup agenda.

Repsol’s joint operations in Venezuela are a key aspect of the cautious stance adopted by the Spanish government. The Spanish company owns 40% of the joint venture Petroquiriquire, in association with PDVSA, which recently expanded its production capacity and the geographical area for its operations in Venezuelan territory.

Elements such as this suggest that in the European and even Latin American context, a more pragmatic strategy offers greater advantages in contrast to attempts at international isolation that had economic repercussions beyond Venezuela and which failed to achieve the expected regime change.

There are thus increasing signs that the temporary approach of the “international community” and the radical strategy of María Corina Machado are not entirely compatible. There is a tendency to favor an approach that balances strategic interests on the other side of the Atlantic, although this does not mean that efforts to revive the regime-change operation have ceased definitively.

Featured image: An empty main floor of the Congress of Spain. Photo: EFE/file photo.

(Misión Verdad)

Translation: Orinoco Tribune

OT/JRE/SL