Spanish socialism and the Maduro dictatorship: a desperate attempt at mutual salvation?

Spanish socialism and Venezuelan socialism are experiencing their darkest moments, and that perhaps explains certain things.

The sinking of socialism in Spain: Will Sánchez go from La Moncloa to Soto del Real?
What should the world do if a gang of drug traffickers takes over a country?

This Friday, Pedro Sánchez described the United States' operations against drug trafficking in Venezuela as "unacceptable," stating: "We must find ways of dialogue and a peaceful solution to this crisis." Let us remember that these operations are related to the fact that Venezuela has been hijacked by a drug trafficking gang, the Cartel of the Suns, which has Nicolás Maduro as its top leader. It is a criminal organization whose structures are embedded within the Venezuelan dictatorship itself.

That criminal organization has infested the United States with the illegal trafficking of fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and other drugs, causing more than 200,000 deaths since 2023. These are figures typical of a war, which is why the US government has classified fentanyl as a chemical weapon being used against its own population. Is Sánchez proposing that the US negotiate with criminals who are killing American citizens?

The position of the Spanish Socialist leader is no surprise. Exactly one year earlier, on December 12, 2024, Sánchez and his party, the PSOE, voted against a motion calling for an end to repression in Venezuela and the release of all political prisoners. In short, Sánchez and his party have been acting as accomplices of Maduro's socialist dictatorship. The alignment between the two goes beyond ideology and ventures into murky waters.

Spanish media have been reporting for some time on the important business dealings of former Spanish Socialist president José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, an influential member of the PSOE who acts as a shadow party president, wielding considerable influence Regarding Sánchez's government, which —as I already pointed out here two days ago— also explains its rapprochement with the Chinese communist dictatorship, with which Zapatero also has important links.

In recent days, events have been unfolding rapidly for the socialists in Spain and Venezuela. This week's legal proceedings in Spain against an airline linked to the Maduro dictatorship, which was irregularly bailed out by the government with 53 million euros in 2020, are now pointing towards Zapatero. A few days ago it was revealed that the United States also has the former Spanish socialist president in its sights for his relationship with the Maduro dictatorship.

Certainly, Sánchez's criticism of the US for its operations against the Cartel of the Suns displays an unhealthy consistency with his peculiar way of fighting this criminal scourge in Spain. Let us remember that in 2022, the Sánchez government dissolved an elite police unit that was successfully combating drug trafficking in southern Spain, a decision that favored illegal drug trafficking from Morocco, whose regime Sánchez treats with even more servility than Maduro.

Beyond that curious coincidence regarding drug trafficking, Sánchez's situation is easy to understand: if the Venezuelan socialist regime falls, it could drag Spanish socialism down with it, exposing the underlying nature of the perverse relationship between the two. At a time when his government is besieged by corruption scandals, Sánchez's criticism of US operations against Venezuelan drug trafficking is not a mere coincidence. Moreover, it gives the impression that we are witnessing a desperate attempt at mutual salvation by the Sánchez government and the Maduro regime. Let's hope we see both fall soon, for the good of Spain and Venezuela.

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Photo: Efe. Dictator Nicolás Maduro with former socialist president of the Spanish government José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero in October 2022.