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The Assistant Secretary of State for the Americas of the United States , Jon Piechowski , has described as "disappointing" and "discouraging" the meeting between the Minister of Transportation, Mobility and Urban Agenda, José Luis Ábalos with the number two of the Nicolás regime Maduro, Delcy Rodríguez, at the Barajas airport. Piechowski also explained that "the United States has questions" - presumably for Spain - about the meeting.

In a videoconference with journalists held tonight, the senior official did not want to enter into the question of whether the United States will file a formal complaint against Spain or even take any action in response to the meeting, since "I will not talk about our conversations diplomats, who are private. " Piechowski also highlighted the fact that Rodriguez has been sanctioned "not only by the United States, but also by the European Union itself." In total, the EU has sanctioned 25 senior Venezuelan officials, who have frozen financial assets and banned flying over the community airspace. Thus, Rodriguez's arrival by plane to Spain is a clear violation of the community sanctions regime.

The fact that Rodriguez has been targeted by the Brussels sanctions places Ábalos' action in a particularly complex position, given that, with his meeting, he breaks not only with the US, but also with the EU partners. The minister has explained to the newspaper El País that the meeting with Rodriguez was casual, since he had gone to Barajas to meet with the Venezuelan Tourism Minister, Felix Plasencia , and Rodriguez was found on his plane. Plasencia's plane was in Barajas on a technical scale on a flight to Turkey.

José Luis Ábalos attends to the media before an act in La Coruña.

Piechowski, however, declined to comment on the decision of the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, not to meet with the president in charge of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, who visits Spain this week. Guaidó was elected a year ago president of the country by the National Assembly , but the regime of Nicolas Maduro refused to accept the appointment. Around 60 countries around the world, including Spain itself, have recognized Guaidó as the legitimate Venezuelan president. Thus, Ábalos' meeting with Rodríguez and Sánchez's decision to ignore Guaidó seem to be in direct contradiction with the Spanish Government's own foreign policy.

Piechowski's statements are in line with those made a few hours earlier by the State Department spokeswoman, Carrie Filipetti , who had declared to the media, referring to the meeting between Ábalos and Rodríguez, that "this type of action, meet with someone who is sanctioned, it undermines the joint policy that the United States and the European Union have put in place on Venezuela. "

The United States continues to support Guaidó as the legitimate president of Venezuela and the National Assembly "as the only democratic instrument in the country," said the Assistant Secretary of State, who stated that "we are studying new sanctions" against the Venezuelan regime.

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  • Spain
  • U.S
  • European Union
  • Venezuela
  • Turkey
  • Pedro Sanchez
  • Juan Guaidó
  • José Luis Ábalos

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