Spain offers to mediate for ‘peaceful solution’ in Venezuela

MADRID - Spain on Jan 3 offered to mediate in the crisis between the United States and Venezuela after US attacks on Caracas and the

capture of President Nicolas Maduro

, who was flown out of his country.

“Spain calls for de-escalation and restraint,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Spain had not recognised the results of the July 28, 2024, elections that were officially won by Mr Maduro but contested by the opposition, whose candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia fled Venezuela for Madrid after the vote.

Spain “has welcomed, and will continue to welcome, tens of thousands of Venezuelans forced to leave their country for political reasons, and... stands ready to help in the search for a democratic, negotiated and peaceful solution for the country”, the ministry added.

In the 2024 elections, Mr Maduro was declared the winner by the National Electoral Council, which did not publish the exact tally from polling stations, citing a cyber attack.

The Venezuelan opposition denounced electoral fraud targeting Mr Urrutia, who had stepped in at the last minute to replace opposition leader Maria Corina Machado after she was ruled ineligible.

A few weeks later, Mr Urrutia fled Venezuela aboard a Spanish military plane and was granted asylum.

Ms Machado, who recently

received the Nobel Peace Prize

and managed to meet him in Stockholm under dramatic circumstances, has been living in hiding in Venezuela since the vote.

A large part of the international community does not recognise the result of the presidential election that allowed Mr Maduro to embark on a third consecutive six-year term. AFP