The Venezuelan government has recalled its ambassador to Spain as well as Spain’s ambassador to the South American country, Venezuela’s foreign minister said on Thursday (12), escalating a diplomatic row.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yván Gil cited “insolent, interventionist and rude” comments by Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles in a Telegram post.
Robles had called the Venezuelan administration a “dictatorship” earlier in the day, local media reported.
Gil said he recalled Gladys Gutierrez, the country’s ambassador to Spain, for consultations in Venezuela, while also summoning the Spanish ambassador to Venezuela, Ramon Santos, to appear before the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this Friday (13).
Spanish parliament recognizes opposition victory
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez met with Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González in Madrid on Thursday (12), a day after the lower house of the Spanish Parliament voted to recognize González as the winner of July’s presidential election.
González, 75, who is wanted by Venezuelan authorities on charges of conspiracy and other crimes, took refuge in Spain on Sunday while Sánchez visited China.
On Wednesday, Spain’s lower house approved a motion urging the government to recognize González as president-elect, a symbolic step that Sánchez said his Socialist-led minority government would ignore and align itself with the European Union on the issue.
The Venezuelan parliament called on the government to cut already shaky diplomatic ties with Spain after the motion was passed.
Sánchez said Spain would continue to demand the release of detailed results of the vote in the presence of an EU mediator, while still not recognizing Maduro or González as the winner.
The Venezuelan opposition published alleged vote counts that pointed to a victory for Gonzalez.
But the national electoral authority, which has not published detailed vote counts, declared acting President Nicolás Maduro the winner of Venezuela’s July elections.
This content was originally published in Venezuela summons diplomats as dispute with Spain intensifies on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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