The former President of the Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, appears this Monday in the Senate in an investigation committee for the 'Koldo case'. During the appearance, he has been asked about his alleged involvement in the government's rescue of the Hispano-Venezuelan airline Plus Ultra. Around this rescue, questions have also arisen such as alleged meetings with José Luis Ábalos, the company for which the former socialist president works, Análisis Relevante, or his meetings with Víctor de Aldama, involved in different corruption cases among which are Ábalos and Koldo García, or Delcy Rodríguez, vice president of Venezuela.
A series of questions posed by senators of the Popular Party that the former leader of the PSOE has flatly denied. Sources from the PP within the Senate affirm that, between justifications and half-truths, Zapatero has confirmed different issues that they consider could get lost among "so much distraction game". They consider it a success to affirm that Zapatero charges as a self-employed person for his consulting work at Análisis Relevante, although in his words, the reports to Análisis Relevante with his signature were not always his, "in the elaboration Sergio Sánchez had an important participation". This company was founded together with Julio Martínez, allegedly involved in the Plus Ultra case, whom he supposedly convinced to hire his daughters' marketing agency, Whathefav.
One of the most striking points for the popular group is the one-hour and fifteen-minute meeting that Zapatero and Víctor de Aldama held. He claims to have met him on a Venezuelan government plane. Regarding this country, the PP states that it facilitated a meeting between Nicolás Maduro and Javier Hidalgo to negotiate Venezuela's debt with Globalia. He maintains, according to the popular party, a friendship with Delcy Rodríguez, with whom he speaks every week but denies having been in contact with her on her trip to Spain on January 20, 2020, despite the prohibition established by the EU.
All these issues are part of Zapatero's statements in the investigation commission, who, according to the Partido Popular, has in turn affirmed having had a meeting with Ábalos for the rescue of Plus Ultra, although the socialist former president denies having been part of the rescue.
