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The Senate commission investigating alleged corruption linked to the Spanish government and the PSOE has now turned its attention to unexplained ties between government-affiliated individuals and the Venezuelan regime. Despite the capture of Nicolás Maduro by the United States, the regime continues to operate under the leadership of Delcy Rodríguez and her associates. This information comes from El Mundo.
The renewed investigation coincides with the announcement that former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero will be summoned to testify before the commission to clarify his close ties with the Venezuelan autocracy. Senators from the Popular Party, who control the Upper Chamber and the investigative commission, claim to be gathering reports and data to tighten the net around what they believe to be a “core of corruption” with political and economic ramifications.
One of the central focuses of the investigation is the airline Plus Ultra Líneas Aéreas, which has Venezuelan capital and was designated as strategic by the government, receiving a €53 million bailout during the pandemic. According to reports from this newspaper, the company recently settled its debt with PDVSA by using part of those public funds.
Zapatero and the Plus Ultra Case: Shadows over the bailout or loan and links with Venezuela
This fact adds to the doubts that have surrounded the bailout since its inception, including a judicial investigation into alleged money laundering and Zapatero’s personal relationship with his advisor for Venezuelan relations, who was arrested just three days after they met in a restricted area in El Pardo. For the PP, all these elements form a web that they now seek to untangle in parliament.
With this goal, the investigation committee has requested Plus Ultra to provide a detailed report on the effective use of the €53 million received, identifying all payment operations carried out with those funds. The request includes dates, amounts, beneficiaries, concepts, and any links with partners or administrators of the company.
Additionally, they have requested the General Intervention of the State Administration to send all audit, financial control, and oversight reports related to the Solvency Fund, particularly those concerning the Plus Ultra bailout, detailing observations and recommendations.
The documentation request also extends to other linked companies, such as Snip Aviation and Fly Spain, for which detailed information on their funding contracts—both bank and private—from 2015 until the bailout is required, along with their corporate structures and identification of the ultimate beneficiaries.
The PP spokesperson in the Senate, Alicia García, stated that Plus Ultra’s bailout “is riddled with black holes.” In her view, “the opacity, lack of information, and Zapatero’s mediation amplify suspicions about a financially disastrous operation for our country, yet very profitable for the Sánchez administration.”
García insists that the suspicions regarding an airline with “clear chavista connections” are beginning to turn into evidence, emphasizing that there is a high likelihood that “the money from all Spaniards has been used to finance the Maduro regime through payments to the Venezuelan state oil company.” “Spaniards deserve to know—she underscores—whether their money has been used to subsidize a narcodictatorship.”