“To access the oil trading operations, potential buyers (…) must contact José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.” The judge of the National Court in charge of the Plus Ultra case points to the former Prime Minister as the man handling the arrangements to obtain crude oil from Venezuela. Even before knowing the type of fuel they were going to purchase, the network urged interested parties to send a letter of intent to the former socialist leader. For the investigator José Luis Calama, this “evidences” the “participation and decisive influence” of the former head of government and his “direct access to people at the highest levels of political responsibility,” also within the Venezuelan government.
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The statement by the head of Central Investigative Court Number 4 is based on intercepted conversations of one of the main suspects in the alleged network: Julio Martínez Martínez, an Alicante businessman and friend of Zapatero who appears as the administrator of Análisis Relevante. This is the consultancy at the epicenter of the case for receiving money from Plus Ultra and paying up to 490,780 euros to the former Prime Minister between 2020 and 2025. The judge places the former socialist leader as the alleged head of “a stable and hierarchical influence trafficking structure” for “obtaining economic benefits through intermediation and the exercise of influence before public bodies in favor of third parties,” mainly the airline company that gives the investigation its name, Plus Ultra.
When analyzing the conversations, Calama reviews the messages exchanged between Martínez Martínez and Domingo Arnaldo Amaro Chacón, a Venezuelan businessman who is listed as one of the administrators of Inteligencia Prospectiva SL. The judge considers that this company constitutes an “entry point for foreign funds, disguised as capital increases, which are later redistributed” to Análisis Relevante, Whathefav (the communication and marketing company of Zapatero’s daughters), and Gate Center (an organization linked to the former president) through “fictitious contracts.”
Based on the intercepted messages, the judge finds it evident that those interested in “accessing the oil trading operations” had to “necessarily channel the management through the articulated influence network.” Specifically, “they must contact José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero through the required Letter of Intent (LOI).”
Delcy Rodríguez, “the Lady” who “manages the allocation” of oil tankers
In the resolution agreeing to Zapatero’s indictment, which EL PAÍS has accessed, the judge highlights a message in which Martínez Martínez tells the Venezuelan businessman that he must prepare said letter of intent. “Prepare LOI,” he notes. He also mentions another communication — from January 23, 2024 — in which Amaro Chacón informs him that Philippe Apikian, president of the company Swissoil Trading SA, and “the Chinese” are “ready to buy ships.” “Ready to travel to meet with the Lady and Minister of Petroleum,” he adds, without specifying at that moment to whom he refers. From the rest of the intercepted messages, the judge holds that the interlocutors identify the then Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, as “the Lady” who “manages the direct allocation of the ships.”
Calama emphasizes that these communications also show that the businessmen initially did not know the type of crude they were going to purchase: they indicate that “they need information about which product the letter of intent is made for.” He stresses that, after receiving instructions from Zapatero’s friend, the Venezuelan businessman finally sends a letter of intent that “includes José’s contact details and the postal address designated for its delivery.” For the judge, this “evidences the modus operandi and reveals the participation and decisive influence of José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero,” who has “direct access to people at the highest levels of political responsibility.”
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Furthermore, he points out that the fact that the interlocutors state they must “be clear” about what they are going to offer because it involves a “company dependent on the Chinese Communist Party” reveals the “involvement or participation of state-relevant actors in the business operation.” This, the judge argues, reinforces the conclusion that the described activity “far exceeds the scope of an ordinary commercial transaction.”
Another letter to the “Office of President Zapatero”
Apart from the letter of intent sent by the Venezuelan businessman, Calama notes the existence of another letter sent months earlier (October 30, 2023) by another company (“China International Cultural Technology Resources Group CO LTD”) to the “Office of President Zapatero,” specifically addressed to the former head of government.
The judge asserts that the alleged corrupt network relied on the “direct intervention” of the former socialist leader in high-value international operations, such as those related to petcoke (a petroleum refining byproduct used as fuel), gold, stock trading, or currencies.”
In this regard, he maintains that there is sufficient evidence that the organization’s clients — including the Venezuelan businessmen of Inteligencia Prospectiva — “paid significant amounts for nonexistent advisory services.” These funds, he notes, were “later redistributed” to the circle around Zapatero and Martínez Martínez. The investigator estimates the irregular commissions that the former president and his close circle may have received within the alleged network at 1.95 million euros.
According to Calama, the intercepted communications “reveal” that the network operated both in Spain and abroad and maintained “contacts with authorities and economic operators from Venezuela, China, the United Arab Emirates, and other countries” with the aim of “influencing administrative decisions” or “facilitating large-scale commercial operations.”
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