Leaders in Spain react to Maduro’s seizurepublished at 11:25 GMT
11:25 GMT
Guy Hedgecoe
Reporting from Madrid
Image source, EPA/Shutterstock
The Spanish government has been an outspoken critic of the
US’s removal of Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro.
Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares told Cadena Ser radio
that the intervention was violating international law and set “a very dangerous
precedent for the future.”
Spain has asked to participate in today’s UN Security
Council meeting on the issue.
Albares’ comments echoed those of the Socialist prime
minister, Pedro Sánchez, who told party members Washington’s use of force was
“an act that we fully condemn, as we do the suffering of the people of Ukraine
and Palestine”.
An estimated 600,000 Venezuelans live in Spain, many having
fled the economic and social chaos of their home country in recent years.
The conservative People’s Party (PP) takes a very different
view. It has applauded Maduro’s removal, while expressing some concerns about
its legality.
The PP warned against allowing the vice-president, Delcy Rodríguez,
to succeed Maduro, calling for elections instead.