By Marlyn Montilla
Sep 10, 2024, 09:37 AM EDT
The Spanish Congress is voting on Tuesday on a bill from the conservative Popular Party (PP) calling on the Spanish government to recognize Edmundo González Urrutía as the winner of the elections in Venezuela, who has been in the European country since Sunday after requesting political asylum.
With this initiative, the PP, Spain’s main opposition party, wants the Chamber to insist that the coalition government, led by the socialist Pedro Sánchez, adopt this position and demand, in turn, an end to the repression of protests in Venezuela, the release of political prisoners and collaboration with the personal security of María Corina Machado and González Urrutía himself.
They also request that the Executive preside over the recognition of the virtual president-elect of Venezuela in the institutions of Europe, with the aim of having him take office as National Executive in the South American country on January 10, 2025.
In the expository part of the proposal, the PP criticises former Spanish president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who is condemned for his “silence”, a clear example, they say, “of this unacceptable lack of commitment to truth and justice”.
Rodríguez Zapatero was an observer in the Venezuelan presidential elections on July 28 and has been the target of criticism for months from the Popular Party, which accuses him of being closely linked to Nicolás Maduro.
Following González Urrutía’s arrival in Madrid, the PP insists that his resounding victory be recognised, while José Manuel Albares, the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, reaffirmed that Spain’s position on what is happening in Venezuela has not changed at all and continues to request the minutes of the presidential elections so that they can be verified because, otherwise, no victory could be recognised, a position shared by the European Union (EU).
On the other hand, President Sánchez, who is scheduled to meet with González this week, considered on Tuesday that any political interpretation of the presence of the Venezuelan opposition’s standard-bearer in Spain is inappropriate because it is a matter of humanity.
In parallel to the debate on the PP proposal in Congress, opposition leader Machado called on all Venezuelans living in Spain to gather in front of Congress on Tuesday to “continue moving forward until the entire world recognizes Edmundo González Urrutia as president-elect.”