• The facts. Ábalos says now that he only had "greetings" with Maduro's number two and that it lasted "25 minutes"
  • Crisis: The political coup with Venezuela reveals tensions in the Government
  • Crisis. Ábalos warns that he does not "miss anyone" and Pedro Sánchez supports him because "he avoided a diplomatic crisis"

The Executive turns to the incident in Barajas with the Vice President of the Venezuelan Government, Delcy Rodríguez , whom the Minister of Transportation, José Luis Ábalos, had to persuade that he could not sleep in Spain, along with the crew that moved her from his country , and has not informed the European Union of this, nor does it intend to show its discomfort to the regime of Nicolás Maduro.

The spokeswoman of the Government and Minister of Finance, María Jesús Montero, offered on Tuesday some more information about this episode, which has acquired the status of crisis due to the successive versions offered by Ábalos himself and the lack of transparency of the Executive, and has He explained that the Executive did not know that Rodriguez intended to stop in Spain and that he did not have "reliable knowledge" until his flight took off from Caracas .

According to Montero, it is something that falls within normality because "in our country the obligation to check the ticket is done when the destination arrives". "That was the moment when it was known that this person was traveling on the plane and the authorities took the corresponding measures to prevent him from entering Spanish territory and Mr. Ábalos, in particular, made a diplomatic management to reiterate it."

If he had not entered, the spokeswoman said, this would have caused a diplomatic crisis with the European Union, which prevents the vice president from entering its territory for undermining democracy and human rights, and with Venezuela. "Our obligation was to prevent their entry and comply with EU sanctions and so it was, because at no time did it cross border control." "He was on international soil, but in no case Spanish soil," says Montero.

For these reasons, the Government understands that it should not inform Europe of this incident since "none of the limits have been exceeded." "He has not communicated because there was nothing." It has also eluded to transfer some type of complaint to the Chavista regime, because it was "a stopover", which should be "mandatory for the rest of the crew itself."

Delcy wanted to sleep in Spain, according to the Government

Montero has not been able to explain why the Venezuelan vice president thought she could go to Madrid, despite the sanctions that weigh against her. Apparently the fact that this scale was necessary, because of the accumulated flight hours, led Delcy Rodríguez to think, according to sources from the Executive, that he could sleep in Spain with the rest of the crew.

That misconception is what motivated the intervention of Ábalos who, according to the Government version, went to Barajas and intervened because he went to receive the Minister of Tourism of Venezuela, Felix Plasencia . The minister, the same sources explain, "reiterated" what the border police had already transmitted to him.

In fact, the Executive maintains that Ábalos' intervention prevented the police from being forced to act. Thus, a crisis with Venezuela has been avoided without added consequences or side effects, as it would have been to have to deport her immediately to Venezuela. Rodriguez, according to El País , then took a commercial flight to Doha ( Qatar ) to, thus, reach Turkey , which was his final destination.

Despite the treatment given to number two of Maduro, the Government defends that it has not changed its position with respect to this country, that it continues to demand democratic elections and that it maintains its recognition of the opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, as president in charge.

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  • Venezuela
  • European Union
  • Nicolás Maduro
  • Turkey
  • Maria Jesus Montero
  • Juan Guaidó
  • José Luis Ábalos

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