Spain in Yet Another Corruption Scandal
New issues with Sanchez' government in Spain. Not yet clarified, but somehow, Maduro's no. 2 managed to enter the Schengen zone illegally.
Pedro Sanchez, socialist Prime Minister of Spain since 2018, seems to run into one scandal after the other. Worse, it is not small things he is accused of, he is surrounded by corruption scandals that he just cannot entangle himself from, even if he has threatened to step down, which did not happen, though.
The Kondo scandal is alleged to have found place during the early days of the Covid-19 crisis, where all responsible governments around the world were scrambling to get enough supplies of protective and testing equipment. Spain was no exception, and the government negotiated a deal for a huge amount of protective masks to be delivered to the country without delay.
In February this year, 19 people were arrested and prosecutors initiated an investigation against the government and especially Sanchez's longtime confidant and former minister Jose Luis Ábalos about corruption in that deal for face masks. There were allegations of illegal commissions, money laundering, among other misconduct such as association to defraud the government. The EU Commission has also initiated court proceedings based on accusations of misuse of EU funds. The case is generally named the Kondo case after an assistant to the former minister of Transport, Ábalos. Kondo is considered the main actor in the association, while Ábalos is prosecuted for his role as an intermediary.
Spain's conservative opposition party called Sunday (13 October 2024, ed.) for the resignation of Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, saying it would file a legal complaint against his Socialist party after new corruption allegations against an associate. “We are asking Pedro Sanchez to resign, he cannot stay a minute longer at the helm of Spain's government," the Popular Party's (PP) secretary general Cuca Gamarra said at a press conference. "The details that are being revealed" show "systemic corruption spearheaded by Pedro Sanchez", Gamarra said. (AFP + Barron’s)
Ábalos was ousted from the Socialist Party after he refused to resign when the corruption allegations came out in February. He has not yet been charged with any wrongdoing. But even if he apparently were intended to be the scapegoat, the problem with corruption remain on PM Sanchez’ shoulders.
Pedro Sanchez. Still from the office of La Moncloa @desdelamoncloa
In a second, unrelated scandal, Sanchez's wife Begona Gomez is alleged to have used her husband's position as leverage within her professional circles while teaching a masters program at a Madrid university. That was in April, and went so far that Mr. Sanchez threatened to resign, but that did not emerge as a result in the end. It only served to weaken Sanchez’ position. “Spain's PM Pedro Sánchez halts public duties as wife faces inquiry” - BBC News
In the latest development, it seems that Venezuelan no. 2 after Maduro has been on a secret visit to Madrid and allegedly brought with her several bags full of gold bars. This is as yet unverified but there is some footage from the airport.
A police investigation report has been released which shows that PM Sanchez authorized a secret visit of Daisy Rodriguez, the Vice-President of three Maduro regime in Venezuela, says Visegrad X channel.
It is not clarified what Daisy Rodriguez was doing in Madrid, but officials have shown some video footage that seems to indicate that she brought with her some bags in excess of normal travel baggage.
If Daisy Rodriguez actually has been in Spain it is a breech of law, because all officials of the Maduro government are banned from entering the EU common border area, the Schengen area. Not only is it an unlawful act if she was allowed to enter, it is even worse if (someone in) the Spanish government actively brought her into the country and covered up the visit.
After this third scandal of the year, it is widely expected that some change will happen to the government. But even if Sanchez leads a majority government and has been unable to pass almost any bills there is not much appetite for overthrowing him. Spain is still facing structural instability because of the Catalan Independence Referendum in 2017 and the unpopular amnesty granted to most of the Catalan leaders, as well as Sanchez’ sudden agreement with the illegal Basque ETA terrorist group. Sanchez may try to divert attention to foreign policy issues, such as his call to ban weapons sales to Israel, but it will not solve the corruption problems, and for this, EU will most likely be called upon to consider sanctions or at least rebuke for the Sanchez government.