Ábalos tries to settle the controversy for his meeting with the Venezuelan Vice President and says he informed the Government: "I avoided a conflict"



The Secretary of Organization of the PSOE, José Luis Ábalos, tries to settle the controversy around his meeting with the Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, on the plane in which he was traveling to Turkey and with which he made a stopover in Madrid. The Minister of Transportation traveled to the airport to pick up his Tourism counterpart from the Latin American country with whom he has maintained a friendly relationship for years. Ábalos has assured that he informed the Government of his intention and that it was the head of the Interior, Fernando Grande-Marlaska, who informed him that the device was traveling number two by Nicolás Maduro, who is forbidden to step on EU soil because of the sanctions imposed for the violation of the regime's human rights, and who asked him to make sure that he did not step on Spanish soil.

"I avoided a conflict," Ábalos summarized in an interview in El Objective (La Sexta) in reference to Rodriguez's possible intention to step on Spanish soil: "Not only have I not done wrong but in any case I have rendered a service to this country". The Government assures that the Venezuelan Vice President did not step on Spanish soil when she did not cross the border, although Rodriguez was in a room in the airport's executive terminal, which Ábalos has called "border rooms."

"What Marlaska tells me is that he receives information that the vice president seems to be traveling on that plane," said Ábalos, who said that it was the head of the Interior who told him to "make sure" he did not step on the ground Spanish. However, Ábalos has acknowledged that this is not his power but that of the police officers who were at the airport and who are the ones who determined at all times what Rodriguez had to do. "They made a stopover to catch another plane," he said. "They did it where the border police determined where they could wait."

The tre numbers of the PSOE has insisted that Rodriguez was at all times supervised by the police, specifically by the border commissioner, as explained. However, this agent did not get on the plane when Ábalos did it to greet the vice president invited by the Minister of Tourism, Felix Plasencia, as he explained on Friday. That meeting lasted, according to his calculations, 25 minutes and he called it "violent" to have to meet and greet Rodriguez while reminding him that he could not enter Spain. The socialist has reiterated that his fellow cabinet members were aware of his transfer to the airport: "I had obviously communicated it because I know that there is some sensitivity to the issue of Venezuela."

Ábalos has downplayed that meeting that he reiterated was not a meeting since, according to his version, it was not previously organized and no specific issue was discussed. "If I wanted to meet there are other places to do it, not in Spain knowing that I cannot enter Spain. Why am I going to take that risk?" Ábalos has asked himself, who has also indicated that if he wanted privacy he would not choose the airport where there are many people present, including members of the police device.

Given the criticism he has received - the opposition demands his resignation - Ábalos has underlined the work that the Government of Pedro Sánchez has done regarding Venezuela. "Spain has made many gestures for Venezuela and for democracy in Venezuela. It was Pedro Sánchez who proposed the contact group, which encouraged the recognition of Juan Guaidó, keeps Leopoldo López in the embassy," he summarized before repeating that he has met "many times" with the Venezuelan opposition.

The controversy over her meeting with the Venezuelan vice president broke out the day before Guaidó visited Spain and Moncloa got in profile. The right has taken the opportunity to double charge against Sánchez: on the one hand to claim the termination of Ábalos and, on the other, to shake him that he has not received him but the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Arancha González Laya. Guaidó has not moved any complaint about the incident or about the treatment he has received, "said Ábalos.

The Secretary of Organization of the PSOE has not wanted to position itself on the dispute that the former presidents Felipe González and José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero have starred on the conflict in Venezuela by saying that he "respects all opinions." But he has justified the position that Sánchez has maintained and also the fact that he did not receive the recognized president. "The link of Spain is greater than other countries to achieve democracy, so that there are free elections observed internationally. And for it to take place we have to get a negotiation between the parties," he said.

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