"We will have sex even if we have to pay a little": the messages that have led to Zapatero's indictment
The investigated ones boast that the former Spanish president was "behind" their successes and presented him as their "contact"
MadridThe judge José Luis Calama has charged José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero because he believes he was the "decisional and strategic core" of a "network" that exerted influence. "His leadership is not manifested in a formal or public manner, but through his capacity for direction, coordination, and supervision, avoiding direct execution of the most sensitive tasks as much as possible," says the ruling to which ARA has had access. It emphasizes that this role "is deduced" from "multiple pieces of evidence" and places special emphasis on some of the conversations reflected in the summary (in which Zapatero does not directly participate).
One of those cited by the judge is from March 2020. Rodolfo Reyes –Venezuelan and former advisor of Plus Ultra– contacts Ramón Gordils –who was deputy minister of Economy of Venezuela and ambassador to Norway– to explore access to Zapatero: "Do you think we can ask Zapatero for help… Political lobby issue Plus Ultra. Public aid and/or financing," says Reyes. "Go through the formal route. And I will look for a way to get to ZP," replies Gordils. Immediately afterwards, Reyes forwards the conversation to Julio Martínez Sola –president of Plus Ultra– and he acknowledges the possibility of paying to achieve it: "As a friend says, we will screw ourselves even if we have to pay a little."
July 2020: "Our colleague Zapatero"
On July 22, 2020, the "network" managed to arrange a meeting at the Ministry of Transport. High-ranking officials from the ministry and executives from Plus Ultra attended. After the meeting, Rodolfo Reyes celebrates: "Our colleague Zapatero behind". On September 9 – when the judge does not identify who is speaking – there is another conversation in which they presume that the people from Gowair Vacation Airlines are aware of the role of the former Spanish president: "They know everything we do, even that Zapa is our contact". And on January 29, 2021, in a conversation with no defined interlocutors, they also boast about his intervention: "Tomorrow Zapatero intervenes directly. He will try to get us the permits without the Spanish embassy having to intervene".
April 2020: "Eleven minutes with Zapatero"
May 2020: "They charge if they move"
May 2020: "They get paid if they move"
The judge emphasizes that Plus Ultra's executives were "fully aware" of the "network's functioning" and that the economic compensation was "conditioned" on the effectiveness of the influences. On May 26, 2020, for example, Reyes asks Roberto Roselli how Zapatero's efforts with Banco Sabadell to obtain an ICO credit are progressing. After Roselli tells him that it is being managed, Reyes is very illustrative: "They get paid if they make a move." Three months later, on August 25, Roselli conveys to Reyes the message that had been passed on to Julio Martínez Martínez: "We have no problem paying whoever pulls the strings."
July 2020: "Grupo Zapatero has it since this morning"
On July 4, 2020, the day after the Spanish government created the Support Fund for Companies, there was a conversation between Reyes and Martínez Sola. The president of Plus Ultra informs him that the alleged plot would already be working on it and that three days later Roselli, Martínez Martínez and he himself would have lunch: "The Zapatero Group has had it since this morning. They were already on top of it (they say)".
August 2020: "If he wants to eat, let him move our file within SEPI"
It also reviews a group conversation from August 21, 2020. Roselli says Zapatero's team has to speed up the rescue: "At 7:30 PM we will speak with him [Martínez Martínez] and tell him clearly. That if he wants to eat, he moves the file within SEPI for us". "Let them approve it and we'll give him 44,000. Let's make a lifetime contract with Indra. But after you have the rials [Iran's currency]", Reyes replied. "We will pay them if they give us the aid", he had previously proposed.
And Alejandro Delgado –Venezuelan and business executive of Plus Ultra– linked the aid and the payment: "Once the aid arrives, we'll pay him. [...] If he assures it, we'll give him double when the money falls". The judge highlights, precisely, that this last message "directly links the payment to the granting of public aid" and justifies that the conversations after these contacts "do not respond" to "real services", but are a "mere documentary cover".
September 2020: "Let Zapatero speak with someone at SEPI"
On September 16, 2020, Roselli sent an audio message to Reyes in which he expressed his "concern" upon seeing that the rescue was "extremely paralyzed" because SEPI "does not have people to review files". And he proposed a solution: "Tomorrow we will have another call with the man and we will pressure him to give us a meeting, at least here within SEPI, whatever. But I don't know if it will be good for them to give him a technical touch from above or for Zapatero to speak with someone at SEPI".
Six days later, Martínez Sola warned Reyes that the next day he would meet with Martínez Martínez and ask him to intervene: "I am already grilling him. What I want is for them to go talk to SEPI, him or Zapatero, and get, even if it's verbally, that they grant us the aid with 100% certainty. With this answer, they should look for a bank for the bridging loan". "We need this push," his interlocutor replied.
March 2021: "This comes out of 1%"
On March 2, 2021, Julio Martínez Sola, Roberto Roselli, and Julio Martínez Martínez met for lunch and sent a photo from a restaurant terrace to a group chat. "SEPI does not approve these expenses," joked Julio Martínez Martínez. "Don't worry, this comes from the 1%," replied Roberto Roselli. The judge argues that this statement "correlates perfectly" with the contract signed by Plus Ultra and Idella Consulenza Stratégica – a company owned by Julio Martínez Martínez – to receive 1% of the bailout – 350,000 euros – if it were granted.