Albares advocates creating a “global alliance for multilateralism” and defends the need to “call things by their name”
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation, José Manuel Albares, insisted this Wednesday that natural resources are part of Venezuela’s sovereignty after US President Donald Trump made clear his interest in Venezuelan oil, while reiterating Spain’s offer of “good offices” to resolve the Venezuelan crisis.
“Venezuela’s natural resources belong to the Venezuelan people,” the minister stated emphatically in an interview on ‘RNE’, reported by Europa Press, after arguing that “the exploitation of natural resources is one of the most important attributes of a State’s sovereignty.”
“International Law says so, and that is certainly what we are going to defend,” he added, hours after Trump announced that Venezuela would deliver between 30 and 50 million barrels of crude oil to the United States after Saturday’s military operation in which President Nicolás Maduro was reportedly apprehended.
Regarding this, Albares declined to comment on whether the Venezuelan leader is detained or kidnapped. “I’m not going to use any labels,” he said, arguing that as head of diplomacy he should not do so.
“What I can tell you is that an illegal action took place in Caracas on Saturday from the point of view of International Law,” he clarified, in line with what Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also stated.
SPAIN’S GOOD OFFICES
In this regard, and as the head of government also did the previous day, he reiterated Spain’s willingness to act as a mediator. “What we proposed, and we proposed it immediately on Saturday, are our good offices, and it is up to the various parties involved to accept them,” he said. “Spain’s willingness is there, and if the parties consider that it could be useful, we will be there, but what we will certainly never do is interfere,” Albares emphasized, indicating that the offer of mediation is both between the new government headed by Delcy Rodríguez and the Venezuelan opposition, and “between different countries in the international community.”
He recalled that the government has been speaking with both the Maduro regime and the opposition for some time, and that he himself spoke on Saturday with Edmundo González, the opposition candidate in the 2024 presidential elections, whom the opposition claims won the elections, although he has not spoken in recent days with María Corina Machado, the main opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
“If Spain’s good offices can help advance the solution we want—a solution reached through dialogue, negotiation, among Venezuelans, peaceful and democratic—we will be willing to do so,” the foreign minister stressed, arguing that in Latin America, Spain always seeks to “build bridges” and not “stoke fires.”
Furthermore, Albares insisted that what happened in Venezuela “is a very dangerous precedent for the rules-based world order” that Spain supports, and that it is necessary to side with International Law.
GLOBAL ALLIANCE FOR MULTILATERALISM
Therefore, he proposed that “it is time for us to launch a global alliance for International Law and multilateralism.” “Because multilateralism is not simply a nice idea about international relations; it is the very basis of peaceful and stable relations between states,” and it represents at the international level what democracy represents at the national level, “a peaceful and virtuous way of organizing coexistence.”
“If we allow International Law and the rules-based international order to crumble, those political forces that want to dismantle democracy and that in Europe want to dismantle the European Union, which is the ultimate expression of democracy, will also triumph,” he warned.
In these circumstances, Albares defended the need to “call things by their name,” as the government does. “An act of aggression is an act of aggression (…) A unilateral military action is a unilateral military action. A violation of international law is a violation of international law, regardless of who commits it or where it takes place,” he emphasized.
