Spain aligned itself with a group of five left-wing Latin American nations in issuing a joint statement rejecting the United States’ unilateral military operation leading to the capture and removal of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.
The communiqué, released on Sunday January 4, was signed by the leaders of Spain, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, and Uruguay.
It strongly condemns the US airstrikes and Delta Force raid on Maduro’s compound in Caracas, and called the actions “a unilateral military operation” that constitutes “an extremely dangerous precedent for peace and regional security” and “endangers the civilian population”.
The joint statement also expresses deep concern over any potential “attempt at governmental control or administration or outside appropriation of natural or strategic resources” in Venezuela.
This is a clear reference to President Donald Trump’s comments about the US potentially running the country temporarily to address drug trafficking and overhaul its oil sector.
All six signatories are currently governed by left-wing parties.
Their ideological alignment has underpinned their coordinated diplomatic efforts, even as most of these governments had previously refused to recognise Maduro’s disputed 2024 re-election.
Many observers say Venezuela’s 2024 election was not free or fair. Observers say the government controlled the process and suppressed transparency, leading to widespread claims it was rigged.
Opposition groups collected many local tally sheets showing stronger support for their candidate than appeared in official results, while the official body controlled by the government did not release basic detailed results.
Many international analysts say the election fell well short of democratic standards and was effectively rigged to ensure Maduro’s victory.
Spanish Prime Minister Sánchez went further, condemning the US intervention in separate remarks.
While Spain had never recognised the Maduro regime due to its lack of democratic legitimacy, “neither will it recognise an intervention that violates international law and pushes the region toward a horizon of uncertainty and belligerence”, he said.
Sánchez criticised before members of his Socialist Party the “violation of international law in Venezuela, an act that we strongly condemn”.
Madrid has offered its “good offices” to facilitate a peaceful, negotiated solution and has stressed the need for a Venezuelan-led democratic transition without external imposition.
La situación en Venezuela debe resolverse exclusivamente por vías pacíficas, mediante el diálogo, la negociación y el respeto a la voluntad del pueblo venezolano en todas sus expresiones, sin injerencias externas y en apego al derecho internacional.
El Gobierno de España, junto…
— Pedro Sánchez (@sanchezcastejon) January 4, 2026
Other European leaders took much more muted responses to the US move.
Kaja Kallas, the EU’s High Representative, reiterated Maduro lacks legitimacy but called for restraint and full respect for international law.
France’s President Emmanuel Macron welcomed the end of what he called Maduro’s “dictatorship” while noting the method infringed international principles.
The UK and Italy offered more neutral or qualified support for the outcome.
Spain’s ties to the Venezuelan regime under Nicolás Maduro have long been scrutinised for potential conflicts of interest.
These have involved prominent figures from the Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party (PSOE) and its allies.
Former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, who served from 2004 to 2011, has faced criticism for his role as a mediator in Venezuelan political dialogues since 2016.
Detractors accuse him of acting more as a defender of the Maduro government rather than an impartial broker, helping Maduro to buy time, fracture the opposition, and gain international legitimacy.
In September 2025, reports emerged of potential US sanctions against Zapatero over his close ties to the regime. These highlighted his efforts to minimise Maduro’s human rights abuses and normalise relations, including paving the way for military aircraft sales.
Notably, Zapatero was the only former Spanish PM not to join a 2024 call for the International Criminal Court to arrest Maduro.
Additionally, Spain’s left-wing Podemos party, a coalition partner in the current PSOE-led government, has been dogged by allegations of receiving illegal funding from the Chávez and Maduro regimes.
Defectors like former spy chief Hugo Carvajal have claimed Venezuela’s government secretly gave millions of euro to support the party’s rise, though Podemos has consistently denied these accusations.
Spain’s Supreme Court on Thursday said it had convicted Spain's top public prosecutor of leaking confidential legal information against the conservative opposition. https://t.co/OdtjrYs7qT
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) November 20, 2025
