MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

EU monitoring arrest in Venezuela of two Spaniards and one Czech national

Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello announced on nationwide TV this weekend saying the suspects belonged to a mission arranged by the CIA to overthrow the Bolivarian government

The arrest by the Venezuelan regime of President Nicolás Maduro of two Spanish and one Czech national accused of planning alongside three US citizens to kill the head of state sparked a reaction from the European Union Monday, which condemned these events and said it was monitoring the case closely.

“It is regrettable that the Venezuelan regime has arrested European citizens,” European Commission Foreign Affairs Spokesman Peter Stano stressed while underlining that it remained a consular “responsibility” of both countries to deal with this situation affecting Spaniards Andrés Martínez Adasme and José María Basoa Valdovinos and the Czech Jan Darmovrzal.

Spain's Foreign Ministry denied any involvement in a “political destabilization operation” in Venezuela and “categorically rejected any insinuation” in this regard. The Czech Government sent a diplomatic note to Caracas requesting information on the Darmovrzal's arrest.

The European Union requested the Venezuelan authorities to “respect human rights and put an end to arbitrary arrests, not only of European citizens but also of members of the opposition, activists and journalists,” Stano also noted.

Last week, Venezuelan Assembly Speaker Jorge Rodríguez urged the South American country's parliament to break all diplomatic and commercial ties with Spain after Madrid's Parliament recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as the legitimate winner of the July 28 elections to succeed Maduro.

Venezuela's Foreign Policy Commission must approve a resolution “to immediately sever all diplomatic and commercial and consular relations” with Spain. He also said all flights from Spain to Venezuela should cease as well as all commercial activities of Spanish companies in the country.

In the meantime, Magalli Meda, Pedro Urruchurtu, Humberto Villalobos, Omar González, Claudia Macero, and Fernando Martínez Mottola, the six asylum seekers staying at the premises of the Argentine Embassy in Caracas now under Brazilian custody following the departure of Buenos Aires' diplomatic mission after breaking up all ties with Maduro's regime, insisted Monday on their 180th day in refuge that they were being harassed by the Chavista government. “The regime systematically accuses us of terrorism, without any proof, lying and exposing us as if we were criminals,” wrote on social media Urruchurtu, a former aide to opposition leader María Corina Machado.

“They don't forgive us for having led an epic campaign that led Venezuelans to an epic victory on July 28.... [and] now they also restrict access to food and elementary services, prohibit visits, guard the surroundings. They have us under siege, violating all the essential international norms on the matter,” he added as all six refugees are still waiting for a safe-conduct to the airport to move to Argentina, where they have already been granted asylum. “The Caracas Convention on Diplomatic Asylum is being violated in the city of Caracas itself,” Urruchurtu also noted.