**Spain slams Venezuela’s Machado for ‘ideological’ visit, far-right meetings**
*Foreign minister condemns racist slogans at Madrid rally*
Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Monday criticized Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, saying she has acted as an “ideological leader” during her visit to Spain.
“She has chosen to act as an ideological leader and to meet only with one part of the political spectrum, with the Spanish far right, instead of as a representative of the Venezuelan people,” Albares told public broadcaster RNE.
**Machado met with conservative Popular Party (PP) leader Alberto Nunez Feijóo, far-right Vox leader Santiago Abascal and Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, but declined to meet with anyone from the Spanish government, saying it was not “convenient” following a summit Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hosted with progressive leaders in Barcelona**.
Machado won last year’s Nobel Peace Prize and later gave it to US President Donald Trump.
Albares said the Spanish government had offered to meet Machado “at any level” and revealed that she had previously requested refuge at Spain’s embassy in Caracas.
“I personally told her there would be no problem,” he said, adding that the offer ultimately was not used.
He described Machado’s criticism of the Spanish government as “completely unjustified,” arguing that Spain has been among the countries that has done the most to support Venezuelans.
Albares also condemned **racist chants directed at Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez** during a gathering of Machado supporters in Madrid, where a performer led chants calling her a monkey.
“When Puerta del Sol is used for racist slogans, that has no place in Spain,” he said.
After the rally, the Venezuelan embassy in Spain issued an apology.
Spain hosts a large Venezuelan diaspora and has granted protection to several opposition figures in recent years, including Leopoldo Lopez and Edmundo Gonzalez.
No_Conversation_9325 on
What the fucking hell?
potatolulz on
She’s still trying to suck up to Trump who forgot her name right after he got his little medal? 😀
Distinct-Policy-6411 on
Yup if you read the article it makes sense. She is turning out to be just a Trump sucker, which delcy is doing even better. So she gets the seat at the throne. Meanwhile Machado had nothing other than nobel prize to offer. She is good but turning to be a nice fodder for the far right. Now the left also is not much in favour with Venezuelans due decades of bad Chavez governance. Doesn’t matter anyways as Trump won’t throw her bone at all. Best to ignore this shit and move on to focus for the better life of Venezuelans. You gotta work with the hand you’re dealt with
azhder on
– A: the sky is blue
– B: wrong A, it is not blue at night
– News clickbait title: B slams A for not knowing the color of the sky
dumnezero on
I hope that The Nobel Peace Committee is happy.
wowlock_taylan on
Maybe Nobel committee should stop giving these Far-right nutjobs their ‘peace prize’.
Blacksmith477 on
This article needs some context:
– PSOE member and former Spanish PM, Zapatero, who is still a key figure in the party, has continuously supported the chavista regime, serving as their primary international advocate for over a decade. This includes a recent trip to Caracas to meet with interim dictator Delcy Rodríguez.
– Influenced by Zapatero, the PSOE-led government has taken a “pragmatic” pro-dictatorship approach, which is overwhelmingly rejected by Venezuelans who want a return to democracy. Additionally, they have recently removed the express route of humanitarian permits for Venezuelans escaping the chavista regime.
– Due to the above, among other things, Machado has chosen not to meet with them, thereby implicitly supporting their political rivals. Whether this turns out to be a good move remains to be seen.
—–
Edit: Gotta love low-effort replies saying this is not true and down-voting without bothering to engage with the content.
It’s not like Zapatero has hidden his many trips to Venezuela to appear in numerous official chavista acts. With a quick search, you can find multiple videos, pictures, and articles about this. You can also find information about his role supporting them internationally and mediating in their favour.
The described actions of the PSOE-led government are easily verifiable too, since it is official information.
I understand many people just hate Machado for her connection to Trump, but there is a logic to her actions that goes beyond the “right-wing nutjob” narrative. You can still disagree with her methods, but that’s a different matter.
zapreon on
Trump is the only world leader that can support her in any meaningful way, so it makes sense for her to play that angle hard. Ultimately, countries like Spain just do not play any relevant role in this situation.
I don’t like Trump, but any person in her position would do the same. There are only very few people in the world who can do anything meaningful for her or Venezuela as a country in general. One is named Donald, the other Marco and works for Donald. Everybody else is effectively insignificant
lacyboy247 on
Harambe, assassination and Nobel might be the biggest timeline split of this century, sadly it worsening everytime it happened.
LFatPoH on
Somehow even with all that’s happened this year, this power hungry far-right nutjob giving her medal to Trump in hope he would make her the leader of her country and getting nothing in exchange for it is still one of the funniest things.
Proud-Enthusiasm-608 on
Wait. So it’s bad when the US tries to govern other nations, but cool when Spain is all up in Venezuelan business.
Haunting-Detail2025 on
Sanchez and the PSOE openly criticized the removal of Maduro and his regime, and Machado is the most prominent opposition figure to the regime. Is anyone really surprised here she’s not going to go gallivanting with them? What does she stand to gain from that, by giving publicity and implicit support to people who openly advocate against her goals?
And yes, she does publicly support trump. You can have a bad taste in your mouth from that, but I would really love to hear a compelling explanation of who she is supposed to be supporting instead if her goal is regime change and democracy in Venezuela. Sanchez? Macron? Starmer? None of the center left or left wing parties in Europe planned to do literally anything about Maduro, it seems fairly intuitive she sticks by the guy who did.
dani3po on
She’s a nobody. Trump only wanted Venezuela’s oil, and from Machado, the Nobel Prize. By the way, the Venezuelans who went to meet Machado showed just how racist they are by calling Delcy Rodríguez a “monkey” (apparently because she’s mixed-race, even though most Venezuelans are too). Furthermore, the Venezuelan opposition leader has ended up acknowledging that the PSOE, not the right wing, has done the most for immigrants in Spain. And finally, Machado says she’s still talking to Trump about returning to her country, which is a lie. Trump doesn’t need her; he already has the oil.
ganbaro on
She was calling for regime change, Trump favored and enabled regime change, the Spanish government criticized regime change
What does “ideological” in this context mean? That a politician has opinions? Its not new that she is positioned close to Trump, obviously she will meet with Spanish parties that are close to her opinion and not ones that are explicitly in opposition to her positions.
This visit changed nothing with regards to both the Spanish governments’ and Machado’s positions.
ProfessorSmoker on
No one cares what Spain thinks. Perhaps Spain would like to pay a couple trillion in reparations to their former colonies in accordance with their apparent leftist ideology.
Arcanemageop on
Far left declining government accuses everyone else of being far right, stay tuned for more shocking news.
WolfKing448 on
If the Sanchez government opposed military intervention against the Maduro regime, I can understand why Machado would give them the cold shoulder.
That doesn’t change the fact that this was a stupid decision on her part. Making enemies abroad is almost always a bad idea.
18 commenti
**Spain slams Venezuela’s Machado for ‘ideological’ visit, far-right meetings**
*Foreign minister condemns racist slogans at Madrid rally*
Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares on Monday criticized Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, saying she has acted as an “ideological leader” during her visit to Spain.
“She has chosen to act as an ideological leader and to meet only with one part of the political spectrum, with the Spanish far right, instead of as a representative of the Venezuelan people,” Albares told public broadcaster RNE.
**Machado met with conservative Popular Party (PP) leader Alberto Nunez Feijóo, far-right Vox leader Santiago Abascal and Madrid regional president Isabel Díaz Ayuso, but declined to meet with anyone from the Spanish government, saying it was not “convenient” following a summit Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez hosted with progressive leaders in Barcelona**.
Machado won last year’s Nobel Peace Prize and later gave it to US President Donald Trump.
Albares said the Spanish government had offered to meet Machado “at any level” and revealed that she had previously requested refuge at Spain’s embassy in Caracas.
“I personally told her there would be no problem,” he said, adding that the offer ultimately was not used.
He described Machado’s criticism of the Spanish government as “completely unjustified,” arguing that Spain has been among the countries that has done the most to support Venezuelans.
Albares also condemned **racist chants directed at Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez** during a gathering of Machado supporters in Madrid, where a performer led chants calling her a monkey.
“When Puerta del Sol is used for racist slogans, that has no place in Spain,” he said.
After the rally, the Venezuelan embassy in Spain issued an apology.
Spain hosts a large Venezuelan diaspora and has granted protection to several opposition figures in recent years, including Leopoldo Lopez and Edmundo Gonzalez.
What the fucking hell?
She’s still trying to suck up to Trump who forgot her name right after he got his little medal? 😀
Yup if you read the article it makes sense. She is turning out to be just a Trump sucker, which delcy is doing even better. So she gets the seat at the throne. Meanwhile Machado had nothing other than nobel prize to offer. She is good but turning to be a nice fodder for the far right. Now the left also is not much in favour with Venezuelans due decades of bad Chavez governance. Doesn’t matter anyways as Trump won’t throw her bone at all. Best to ignore this shit and move on to focus for the better life of Venezuelans. You gotta work with the hand you’re dealt with
– A: the sky is blue
– B: wrong A, it is not blue at night
– News clickbait title: B slams A for not knowing the color of the sky
I hope that The Nobel Peace Committee is happy.
Maybe Nobel committee should stop giving these Far-right nutjobs their ‘peace prize’.
This article needs some context:
– PSOE member and former Spanish PM, Zapatero, who is still a key figure in the party, has continuously supported the chavista regime, serving as their primary international advocate for over a decade. This includes a recent trip to Caracas to meet with interim dictator Delcy Rodríguez.
– Influenced by Zapatero, the PSOE-led government has taken a “pragmatic” pro-dictatorship approach, which is overwhelmingly rejected by Venezuelans who want a return to democracy. Additionally, they have recently removed the express route of humanitarian permits for Venezuelans escaping the chavista regime.
– Due to the above, among other things, Machado has chosen not to meet with them, thereby implicitly supporting their political rivals. Whether this turns out to be a good move remains to be seen.
—–
Edit: Gotta love low-effort replies saying this is not true and down-voting without bothering to engage with the content.
It’s not like Zapatero has hidden his many trips to Venezuela to appear in numerous official chavista acts. With a quick search, you can find multiple videos, pictures, and articles about this. You can also find information about his role supporting them internationally and mediating in their favour.
The described actions of the PSOE-led government are easily verifiable too, since it is official information.
I understand many people just hate Machado for her connection to Trump, but there is a logic to her actions that goes beyond the “right-wing nutjob” narrative. You can still disagree with her methods, but that’s a different matter.
Trump is the only world leader that can support her in any meaningful way, so it makes sense for her to play that angle hard. Ultimately, countries like Spain just do not play any relevant role in this situation.
I don’t like Trump, but any person in her position would do the same. There are only very few people in the world who can do anything meaningful for her or Venezuela as a country in general. One is named Donald, the other Marco and works for Donald. Everybody else is effectively insignificant
Harambe, assassination and Nobel might be the biggest timeline split of this century, sadly it worsening everytime it happened.
Somehow even with all that’s happened this year, this power hungry far-right nutjob giving her medal to Trump in hope he would make her the leader of her country and getting nothing in exchange for it is still one of the funniest things.
Wait. So it’s bad when the US tries to govern other nations, but cool when Spain is all up in Venezuelan business.
Sanchez and the PSOE openly criticized the removal of Maduro and his regime, and Machado is the most prominent opposition figure to the regime. Is anyone really surprised here she’s not going to go gallivanting with them? What does she stand to gain from that, by giving publicity and implicit support to people who openly advocate against her goals?
And yes, she does publicly support trump. You can have a bad taste in your mouth from that, but I would really love to hear a compelling explanation of who she is supposed to be supporting instead if her goal is regime change and democracy in Venezuela. Sanchez? Macron? Starmer? None of the center left or left wing parties in Europe planned to do literally anything about Maduro, it seems fairly intuitive she sticks by the guy who did.
She’s a nobody. Trump only wanted Venezuela’s oil, and from Machado, the Nobel Prize. By the way, the Venezuelans who went to meet Machado showed just how racist they are by calling Delcy Rodríguez a “monkey” (apparently because she’s mixed-race, even though most Venezuelans are too). Furthermore, the Venezuelan opposition leader has ended up acknowledging that the PSOE, not the right wing, has done the most for immigrants in Spain. And finally, Machado says she’s still talking to Trump about returning to her country, which is a lie. Trump doesn’t need her; he already has the oil.
She was calling for regime change, Trump favored and enabled regime change, the Spanish government criticized regime change
What does “ideological” in this context mean? That a politician has opinions? Its not new that she is positioned close to Trump, obviously she will meet with Spanish parties that are close to her opinion and not ones that are explicitly in opposition to her positions.
This visit changed nothing with regards to both the Spanish governments’ and Machado’s positions.
No one cares what Spain thinks. Perhaps Spain would like to pay a couple trillion in reparations to their former colonies in accordance with their apparent leftist ideology.
Far left declining government accuses everyone else of being far right, stay tuned for more shocking news.
If the Sanchez government opposed military intervention against the Maduro regime, I can understand why Machado would give them the cold shoulder.
That doesn’t change the fact that this was a stupid decision on her part. Making enemies abroad is almost always a bad idea.