Zapatero returns to Venezuela to support the “amnesty process” and meet with Chavista Jorge Rodríguez

Rodríguez Zapatero is expected to participate in a meeting headed by the president of the National Assembly (AN, Parliament), the Chavista Jorge Rodríguez, in Caracas, about the amnesty, approved in February by the Legislature and which has allowed the granting of full freedom to more than 7,700 people, according to official figures.

However, the opposition considers that the law approved in the Venezuelan Parliament “It is not an amnesty” but a document that intends to “blackmail many innocent Venezuelans” and that excludes people who are still incarcerated.

The setting for the meeting will be the Federal Legislative Palace, headquarters of the AN, with the participation of Chavista and opposition deputies who are part of the special commission created in order to follow up on the amnesty and review cases not contemplated in the regulations.

With this visit, Zapatero has visited Caracas twice since the capture of Nicolás Maduro by the US. On his previous trip, Delcy Rodriguez received the former Spanish president at the Miraflores Palace – headquarters of the Chavista Executive – “as part of the Bolivarian diplomacy of peace that strengthens brotherhood, dialogue and solidarity.”

Rodríguez, brother of the president in charge, thanked Zapatero on the day the law was announced for his role in the mediation process for the release of political prisoners: “They have always been at the side of the people of Venezuela to defend the right” to “full life, self-determination, independence and peace“, expressed Rodríguez in reference to Zapatero,

He also praised for adding “all their capabilities to work together for national connivance.”

On March 2, Zapatero assured that he has never been paid for his intermediation work in favor of “dialogue” in Venezuela.

The amnesty law

The rule applies specifically to those linked to 13 “events” that occurred in 13 years, which excludes the rest of the established period, as well as cases related to military operations.

In this way, the law leaves political exiles in limbo. A trap directed mainly against leaders such as Maria Corina Machado o Leopoldo Lopezfor whom the government maintains accusations of “promoting, instigating, requesting, invoking, favoring, facilitating, financing or participating in armed or forceful actions.”

The new legislation also excludes from the application of the amnesty crimes involving serious violations of human rightsagainst humanity, intentional homicide, very serious injuries, drug trafficking, as well as crimes provided for in the law against corruption.

Until last Thursday, Justice had granted a total of 7,727 full freedoms, the vast majority of them to people who had precautionary measures.

According to non-governmental organizations and opposition parties, the courts have denied full freedom to two press workers and the lawyer Perkins Rocha, legal advisor to the largest opposition coalition and the leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado.

Zapatero’s mediating role in Venezuela

José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero became involved as mediator, electoral observer and dialogue facilitator between the Maduro Government and different opposition sectors of Venezuela in 2014 in a context of massive protests and growing institutional confrontation.

Since then, its main work has focused on the release of political prisoners and seeking a space for negotiation between the parties that could stop the violence and open channels of dialogue.

Zapatero has always defended his strategy of discretion and has avoided speaking out publicly on certain aspects, such as the recognition of opposition leaders or electoral irregularities, arguing that maintaining the trust of all parties is a condition for effective mediation.

His active role in the Venezuelan political crisis, as well as sHis close relationship with Maduro, Delcy Rodríguez and his brother for so many years has worn down the image of the former socialist president both inside and outside Spain, especially in the range of the right and the extreme right.

They doubt his real influence in the South American country: they accuse him of sympathizing with the regime, of having economic interests, of legitimizing the dictatorship and they even consider that he could have “collaborated” with Maduro in the criminal crimes of which the US accuses him.