The DelcyGate, as the meeting on January 20, 2020, at Barajas airport between former Transport Minister José Luis Ábalos and the now acting president of Venezuela Delcy Rodríguez – who was banned from the Schengen area by the European Union – is known, has landed in the Plus Ultra Case file. The commissioner in charge of the Madrid airport on the night of the murky stopover, Jesús María Gómez Martín, was able to provide “favors,” such as allegedly avoiding customs controls for the investigated Venezuelan magnates, in exchange for “rewards.”
Read more Iñaki Gabilondo, protagonist of a new Foros de Vanguardia
In a report from the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF), which is included in the case file, the police analyze a WhatsApp chat – called Danilo España – between Miguel Palomero, former lawyer of Plus Ultra, and the Venezuelan businessman Danilo Diazgranados Manglano between April 30, 2019, and October 24, 2024. The Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office states that from the analysis of this chat it is inferred that Palomero is Diazgranados’ “trusted man” in Spain, and that, in turn, “there is a very close personal and economic relationship” with a person they call “Zorro,” “Z,” or “ZZZ,” whom the investigators identify as former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. “Who in turn has as a trusted man – and a front person,” continues the Public Prosecutor’s Office, Julio Martínez. In fact, in the judicial file for the Plus Ultra case, payments from a company of the Venezuelan magnate to the company of Zapatero’s daughters, Whathefav, appear. In a report from the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, this payment of 20,000 euros is described as “alleged gratuities.”
The Prosecutor’s Office focuses on the “particular favors” of Commissioner Gómez, current chief of police in the Canary Islands. On one hand, he would have facilitated the entry of people close to the alleged corrupt Diazgranados: flights to Madrid, in June 2021 and February 2022, of the Venezuelan Norka Luque, an alleged front woman for the Chavista regime. On the other hand, with control of Cuatro Vientos airport, used for private flights, “it may have served for carrying out business whose illicit nature and scope are yet to be determined.” The UDEF also refers to a possible private plane of Diazgranados that “would have taken” Rodríguez Zapatero, “who would also have hosted him in meetings that may have taken place in the Dominican Republic.”
These activities, as outlined by Anti-Corruption, are allegedly rewarded in various ways, such as sending high-priced wine bottles with which Diazgranados “recurrently” honored the then airport commissioner. Similarly, there are references to the “good treatment” that Danilo has given to the high police command in exchange for rewards that could constitute a continuous bribery offense. Another police report points to a possible payment of 7,000 euros to the commissioner. Additionally, in an order from the Madrid judge who initiated the investigations, Esperanza Collazos, the discovery of a business card in Gómez’s name with his handwritten number on the front was also highlighted during the search of the Plus Ultra headquarters.
Gómez Martín appeared in November 2024 before the Investigation Commission held in the Senate for being the highest police official present the night the then Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, landed at Barajas airport in January 2020, despite an existing European order banning the landing. During his testimony, he assured that he complied with the mandate and gave the order for the Venezuelan leader’s plane to leave, justifying its landing in Spain.
Read more Shakira thanks Gerard Piqué for the role he had in her life and in her motherhood
During his testimony, he denied knowing about this trip beforehand and stated that he was notified at 10:30 p.m. on January 19 that it was going to land, so he considered it appropriate to attend to manage it. What was not known during his testimony is that his name appears in conversations between Diazgranados and Palomero and that on the latter’s phone, conversations with Delcy Rodríguez herself appeared.
The case file includes a conversation between the businessman and the lawyer, who would be in charge of making payments to “take care of judges, police officers, and officials,” as they themselves acknowledge in a conversation. Although the National Court judge José Luis Calama, who has taken over the case since March after Judge Collazos’ recusal, has not proceeded against the commissioner, he has this conversation between the two Venezuelans that took place on November 4, 2020:
Miguel Palomero: Today’s meeting with the commissioner was very fruitful.
Danilo Diazgranados: That’s great.
MP: It seems that everything was clarified yesterday and Kiko’s file has been cleared. I just spoke quite a bit with him.
DD: What a good thing.
MP: The truth is that Jesús is behaving wonderfully.
DD: Well, we also behave well with him.
MP: The truth is yes, we behave super super well.
Yesterday, the police union Jupol demanded the immediate dismissal of the chief of police in the Canary Islands “due to the extreme seriousness of the publicly known facts,” highlighting that it is “especially striking” that the police chief was promoted after Delcygate. However, the Ministry of the Interior considers that the investigation is at an initial stage and that there is no formal accusation against Gómez.
Read more Felix Gonzalez-Torres consummates his “sweet revenge” against Madrid at the Museo Reina Sofía
