Venezuela recalls Spanish ambassador after Madrid’s accusations against Maduro’s regime 

Venezuela has recalled its Spanish ambassador to Caracas for consultations this Friday (13 September) following Spanish Defence Minister Margarita Robles's (PSOE/S&D) declarations of “persecution” and “limitation of fundamental rights” against political opponents in the Maduro regime. 

The Spanish Ambassador to Venezuela, Ramón Santo, as explained by Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil on his Telegram channel on Thursday (12 September), is due to appear at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Caracas this Friday. 

Gil added that Venezuela has also recalled its ambassador to Spain, Gladys Gutiérrez, for urgent consultations.

According to Maduro's regime, the Spanish Minister of Defence's statements “point to a deterioration of relations between the two countries,” Euractiv's partner EFE reported. 

The diplomatic move follows Robles' comments after the arrival in Madrid on Sunday (8 September) of Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, who was granted political asylum by Spain.

Robles commented that the politician was facing judicial persecution, a practice she claimed is used by the Maduro regime against “very many” dissidents, which is “unacceptable and unacceptable."

Meanwhile, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares (PSOE/S&D) tried to defuse the tension on Friday. 

In an interview aired by Spanish public radio (RNE), the official assured that the recall of the Spanish ambassador to Caracas was a “sovereign decision” by the government of Nicolás Maduro. 

On the other hand, he assured that Madrid will respond to Caracas' measure by trying to seek “the best possible relations” with the Venezuelan people, with whom Spain has strong historical and economic ties. 

“Summoning an ambassador and calling for consultations are sovereign decisions of each state, and therefore there is nothing to comment on," Albares stressed. 

On the controversial statements made by Robles, the official said that he is “not a professor of constitutional law or a political scientist” to speculate on this.  

“We foreign affairs ministers are the last people who should be the last ones to use any kind of adjective. Venezuela is a brotherly country," Albares told RNE. 

Political tension between Spain and Venezuela peaked this week after the Spanish parliament passed a non-binding motion on Wednesday (11 September), calling on Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez (PSOE/S&D) to recognise González Urrutia’s victory in Venezuela's elections on 28 July. Left-wing forces in Spain rejected this motion.

Spain's official stance on the crisis aligns with the EU's position. The Union and a large part of the international community demand that Caracas produce the electoral documents confirming Nicolás Maduro's self-proclaimed victory. 

An eventual severance of political and trade relations would have serious consequences for both sides, and especially for Spain. 

According to official data from 2022 cited by the media, Spain was the third largest destination for Venezuelan exports, with a total of $518 million (€468 million), of which almost 85% was generated by oil sales. Around 60 Spanish companies from a wide range of sectors currently operate in Venezuela, including tourism, finance (BBVA bank) and aviation (Iberia, Air Europa). 

[Edited by Martina Monti]