Madrid and Caracas will be able to turn the page on diplomatic tensions.

Spain appointed an ambassador to Venezuela on Tuesday, after two without such a diplomatic representative.

“Ramon Santos Martinez has been appointed Spanish ambassador to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,” announced the government of socialist Pedro Sanchez after the Council of Ministers.

Madrid, which does not recognize the legitimacy of the government of Nicolas Maduro, had decided at the end of 2020 to end the functions of its ambassador, at the time Jesús Silva, without appointing a replacement.

The latter had been accused by Caracas of having facilitated the exile in Spain of the political opponent Leopoldo López.

Tensions with the European Union

The new ambassador appointed on Tuesday had held the position of Trade Officer at the Spanish Embassy in Venezuela since November 2021, the highest diplomatic representation in that country since the vacancy of the post of ambassador.

Ramon Santos Martinez was notably Spanish Ambassador to Panama (2015-2019) and Bolivia (2008-2012), and held posts at the embassies in Washington, Brussels and Quito.

The former European Union ambassador to Venezuela, the Portuguese Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, also left the country in March 2021 after being declared "persona non grata" by the government of President Nicolas Maduro.

The EU does not recognize any legitimacy in the president and did not recognize the results of the December 2020 legislative elections.

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  • Venezuela

  • Spain

  • Nicola Maduro

  • Diplomacy

  • Ambassador