Diplomatic tensions between Venezuela and Spain following the reception in Madrid of opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia have worsened in recent hours: the Foreign Minister of the Nicolás Maduro government, Yván Gil, has recalled his ambassador to Madrid, Gladys Gutiérrez, for consultations and has summoned the Spanish ambassador in Caracas, Ramón Santos, to his office at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs today.
The measure - points out 'El Pais' - was announced after days of growing tension and following statements by Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles, who called the Maduro government a "dictatorship", recalling the exile of millions of people. Gil made the announcement on his Telegram channel, in which he described the Spanish minister's statements as "insolent and rude" and amounting to "interference." He also said that "they indicate a deterioration in relations between the two countries." (continued)
Tensions flared just hours after Pedro Sánchez received González Urrutia at the Moncloa. In addition, last Wednesday the Congress of Deputies approved an exhortation to the Spanish Executive to recognize candidate González Urrutia as the legitimately elected president, after the results of the July 28 elections, in which Maduro was proclaimed the winner, were challenged.
The statements referred to by the Venezuelan Foreign Minister were made by Margarita Robles yesterday evening in Madrid, where she presented the book 'El niño que perdió la guerra' ('The Boy Who Lost the War'), by Julia Navarro. After alluding to the Francoist and Stalinist totalitarianisms reflected in the novel, the Defense Minister recalled the Ukrainians 'massacred by Putin', the Afghan women erased from public life by the Taliban and also 'the men and women who had to leave Venezuela precisely because of the dictatorship in which they live'; among these she mentioned opposition candidate Edmundo González Uribe, a refugee in Spain.
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