Aldama to present new evidence on PSOE illegal funding, citing Delcy Rodríguez's lawsuit

Víctor de Aldama is preparing new evidence on the PSOE's illegal funding and will use the defamation lawsuit announced by Delcy Rodríguez to submit it. The claim, a step prior to a incivil complaint, was filed through the law firm of former judge Baltasar Garzón.

The businessman **Víctor de Aldama** plans to present new evidence on the PSOE's illegal funding and, according to those close to him, will do so by taking advantage of the mediation claim filed against him by Venezuela's interim president, **Delcy Rodríguez**. That claim is the step prior to a incivil complaint for alleged slander, and it was filed through the law firm of former judge **Baltasar Garzón**.

## The PDVSA envelope and the 250 million dollars

The origin of the clash lies in what Aldama told **Ismael Moreno**, the presiding judge of Central Investigating Court number 2 of Spain's Audiencia Nacional (National Court). According to his testimony, Delcy Rodríguez handed him an envelope from the Venezuelan state company **PDVSA** containing oil quotas worth **250 million dollars** intended to fund the Socialist International and Pedro Sánchez's PSOE. That information was published as an exclusive in 2024.

Delcy Rodríguez's claim argues that the assertion that she handed over that envelope — described in the media as a paper cover bearing the PDVSA seal or emblem — is "untrue, false or not in line with reality". Her defence argues that attributing the delivery to her carries a negative meaning because it links her, broadly speaking, to events that could constitute crimes when committed by others.

## Apamate, the company that channelled the quotas

In his statement, Aldama identified **Apamate Corporate And Trust**, a company linked to the supposedly deceased banker **Francisco Flores**, as the piece that channelled those PDVSA oil quotas worth 250 million dollars. According to his account, **José Luis Ábalos** began the procedures to route the funds through Apamate and, afterwards, **José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero** took over the management, with payments and bank accounts in countries such as Panama and Russia.

The Guardia Civil's Unidad Central Operativa (UCO, Central Operating Unit) has been investigating all the information provided by Aldama since then, which was completed with the delivery of the envelope containing the PDVSA quotas. The businessman has received the claim, according to his circle, calmly, and believes the new legal action will give him the opportunity to keep filling in the pieces of the PSOE's illegal funding.

## Aldama's circle's theory: an operation to silence him

Sources close to Aldama argue that the legal move responds to a political operation to silence and discredit him, and that it may come from Prime Minister **Pedro Sánchez** and Zapatero. They point to the fact that the claim was filed through Garzón's Ilocad law firm and stress that it arrives exactly one month after Aldama testified before Judge Moreno.

Those same sources claim that Delcy Rodríguez is trying to protect her brother **Jorge Rodríguez**, whom they describe as Zapatero's main partner in Venezuela. In their view, the claim is a strategic mistake that will allow Aldama to provide more information and reveal more details about the Socialist Party's illegal funding and about the involvement of Delcy herself and her brother. These are one-sided claims, not proven facts.