CARACAS: Venezuela warned on Friday that it would brook “no interference” from Madrid in its affairs amid a deepening standoff with Spain over its fierce criticism of strongman President Nicolas Maduro.

Relations between Spain and its former colony came to near breaking point after a Spanish minister called Maduro’s government a “dictatorship” on Thursday, prompting Caracas to recall its ambassador to Madrid for consultations and summon Spain’s envoy to Venezuela for talks.

After the meeting with Spain’s ambassador, Foreign Minister Yvan Gil said in a statement on Friday that Caracas would “accept no interference from the Spanish government” in its affairs and would “take the necessary steps...to protect its sovereignty”.

Madrid has been at loggerheads with its former colony since a disputed presidential election in Venezuela in July.

Spain last week granted asylum to opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who was threatened with arrest after claiming victory in the vote which the opposition accuses Maduro of stealing.

The escape of the 75-year-old prompted a show of support in Spain for the Venezuelan opposition.

Spain’s Defense Minister Margarita Robles on Thursday dismissed Maduro’s government as a “dictatorship” and expressed her support for “the Venezuelans who had had to leave their country” because of his regime.

The remarks infuriated Maduro’s loyalists, who were also angered by Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez’s decision to meet with Gonzalez Urrutia earlier that day.

Gil called Robles’s comments “rude and insolent” and the head of Venezuela’s parliament called for ties with Madrid to be cut.

Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares tried to cool the rhetoric and downplay the spat on Friday, saying it was Venezuela’s right to recall its ambassador.

“We are working to have the best relations possible with our fraternal cousins in Venezuela,” he told public radio.

Spanish lawmakers have voted to urge Sanchez’s government to recognize Gonzalez Urrutia as the “legitimate winner” of the election, which Maduro claims he won despite international skepticism.

Spain supports `democracy’

Sanchez published a video on X showing the Spanish premier walking in the gardens at his official residence with Gonzalez Urrutia and the opposition figure’s daughter Carolina Gonzalez, who lives in Spain.

“Spain continues to work in favour of democracy, dialogue and the fundamental rights of the brotherly people of Venezuela,” he posted, adding that he “warmly welcomed Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia to our country”.

The United States on Thursday announced new sanctions against 16 Venezuelan officials, including some from the electoral authority, for impeding “a transparent electoral process” and not publishing accurate results.

Venezuela issued a statement shortly afterward denouncing the sanctions as a “crime of aggression”. The United States has recognized Gonzalez Urrutia as the winner of the election.

So far, however, Spain and other European Union nations have limited themselves to calling on the Venezuelan government to release the voting tally sheets.

“From a political point of view, the Spanish government has been clear since the elections were organized,” Sanchez said earlier this week.

“We are doing something very important: working for unity in the European Union so that we can find a way out that reflects the democratic will expressed at the ballot box by the Venezuelan people.”

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2024