Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez seeks court order against Spanish businessman over alleged PDVSA envelope

Interim Venezuelan President Delcy Rodríguez has filed a request for conciliation in a Madrid court, scheduled for 16 July, to compel Spanish businessman Víctor de Aldama to retract statements that she handed him a brown envelope linked to the state oil firm PDVSA. The envelope is alleged to contain material that could prove illegal financing of Spain’s PSOE party and the Socialist International.

The legal action is being pursued through the law firm ILOCAD, led by former judge Baltasar Garzón, which represents Rodríguez. Aldama submitted the envelope to Judge Ismael Moreno in March as part of a secret investigation into cash payments to the PSOE made between 2017 and 2024. The Guardia Civil’s Central Operative Unit noted that the envelope bore the official seal of the Venezuelan Vice‑Presidency and was likely delivered in February 2020, shortly after Rodríguez’s arrival at Madrid‑Barajas airport.

Rodríguez has warned that if Aldama does not publicly withdraw his claims, she will file a formal querella for injurious statements. A recent Supreme Court ruling on similar defamation cases could affect the viability of such a complaint.