He accuses the PP of “amalgamation” and of wanting to be the ones who decide who governs in Venezuela
MADRID, 26 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, has rejected this Monday that his meeting with the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Carlos Faría, last week seeks to whitewash the Government of Nicolás Maduro, as the PP has reproached him, assuring that What the Executive wants is to support the dialogue and for the Venezuelans to elect their president.
Albares has defended his meeting with Faría on the margins of the UN General Assembly, stressing that it is not the first time that he has met with a Venezuelan foreign minister and that the head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, also met with Faría. as well as other ministers.
In an informative breakfast organized by Europa Press, he has argued that since he has been a minister he has made it clear that he intends to “talk to all the actors in the Venezuelan dialogue” and that is what he has been doing at this time “always publicly and with transparency” .
As he explained, the message that he conveyed to the Venezuelan minister is the same that he has sent to opposition leaders such as Leopoldo López, Spain’s willingness to “accompany this dialogue” on the basis that the solution must be found by the Venezuelans themselves .
“Spain has no desire or interest in deciding who is the president of Venezuela, the Venezuelans have to decide,” he stressed.
Thus, Albares has expressed his surprise at the criticism made by the PP to his meeting and that they accused him of whitewashing the Maduro regime. “I am surprised by some amalgams and attitudes of opposition forces, which mix everything up and perhaps want to decide who is the president” of Venezuela, he has said, without mentioning the PP. “What I want is democracy in Venezuela and for them to decide,” he stressed.
On the other hand, the minister has assured that the relationship with Latin America will be one of the priorities of the Spanish Presidency of the EU in the second half of 2023, which will have its maximum expression in the summit between the Twenty-seven and CELAC. He has also defended the need to close trade agreements with Chile, Mexico and Mercosur, because they are also “a political commitment” with this region, “the most Euro-compatible”.
In another order of things, he has acknowledged “concern” about the departure of some Spanish companies from Latin America, although he has stressed that there are “many that remain firmly in those countries and are well received.”
These companies have been through the most difficult times and want to contribute to the development of all these countries, he added, assuring that “the new leaders” in countries like Chile or Colombia feel “very comfortable” with Spanish companies.
As far as Mexico is concerned, “beyond the misgivings that some person may have in particular”, the minister said in reference to the president, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, whom he did not mention, Spanish companies “are well established” .
However, he has opted to resolve “any difference” that may exist through dialogue, after the criticism that the Mexican president has repeatedly made against some large Spanish companies operating in the country.
