Authorities in Venezuela have detained two Spanish nationals on charges of alleged “terrorism” and attempting to assassinate President Nicolás Maduro.
The Venezuelan Government has also accused 35-year-old José María Basoa Valdovinos and 32-year-old Andrés Martínez Adasme of working for Spain’s Centre of National Intelligence (CNI).
The government claimed both men were part of “a group of mercenaries” that wanted to assassinate Maduro as part of a “destabilisation operation” sponsored by both the CNI and the US intelligence service the CIA.
The Spanish foreign ministry said Spain denied those claims “categorically”.
The Pedro Sánchez-led government insisted it “defends a democratic and peaceful solution to the situation in Venezuela”.
The families of both Basoa and Martínez also denied the men were linked to the CNI or any other intelligence operation.
The Venezuelan authorities have also detained three US citizens and one Czech national they believed to be part of the alleged “plot.”
All will be held in custody and questioned “in compliance with what other countries do not do, which is the respect for human rights”, Venezuelan Government stated.
The Ertzaintza, the Basque regional police force, confirmed the two Spanish men were of Basque origin and had been unaccounted for since September 9.
Both the Spanish Consulate in Caracas and the Basque Regional Government said they have remained in direct contact with the men’s families.
The two Spaniards are believed to have flown from Madrid to Caracas on August 17. There they rented a car and headed toward the Amazonian region of Venezuela, close to the border with neighbouring Colombia but reportedly went missing shortly afterwards.
Venezuelan authorities claimed Basoa and Martínez were then discovered in a restricted military zone, without a guide, conducting what they called “suspicious” activities.
The incident led the European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell to label the Maduro government a “dictatorial regime”.
That followed weeks of criticism of the European Commission from leaders of both the European Conservative and Reformists (ECR) and Patriots for Europe (PfE) in the European Parliament over what they said was the EC’s “lukewarm” response to the situation in Venezuela.
At an event organised by Spain’s VOX (PfE) party in Buenos Aires, ECR MEP Carlo Fidanza on September 13 criticised what he called Borrell’s “ambivalent and submissive position” with respect to the Maduro-led Venezuelan regime.
That came a couple of days after the Spanish Government had granted political asylum to Venezuelan presidential candidate and opposition leader Edmundo González, a move that triggered a political dogfight between Spain’s largest parties.
