Spain's National Court has widened a corruption investigation to implicate Venezuela's acting president Delcy Rodríguez as a central figure in an alleged international network that used political influence to facilitate Venezuelan oil sales, court documents reviewed by El Debate showed.

Judge José Luis Calama, who is investigating former Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero on charges including influence peddling, organised crime, document forgery and money laundering, identified Rodríguez in intercepted communications by the alias "La Dama" — The Lady — and described her as holding decision-making authority over the allocation of oil shipments.

"The Lady is the one who handles the direct allocation of the ships," read one message cited in the court order as evidence of Rodríguez's role within the alleged scheme.

The indictment, which summoned Zapatero to appear before the court on June 2, describes a network that allegedly compelled prospective oil buyers to route transactions through structures linked to the former Spanish leader. "In order to access the oil buying and selling operation, potential buyers must necessarily channel the management through the articulated network of influence, who must address José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero," the document states.

Zapatero, 65, who served as prime minister from 2004 to 2011, denied wrongdoing. A fellow socialist and longtime ally of current Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, he has remained active in Latin American diplomacy despite holding no public office for more than a decade. "All of my public and private activities have always been conducted in full compliance with the law," he said. "My private activities and the income and compensation I have received have been declared via income tax with absolute transparency and legality."

The investigation centres partly on the 2021 state rescue of airline Plus Ultra, which received €53mn in public COVID-19 recovery funds. The carrier operates routes to Caracas and counts Venezuelan nationals among its shareholders. Prosecutors also suspect that funds under scrutiny may be connected to transactions involving state oil company PDVSA, Venezuelan gold operations and the CLAP food programme.

The court order noted that Rodríguez held the posts of vice president and petroleum minister simultaneously at the time of the alleged transactions, concentrating governmental authority over the energy sector. The indictment adds a striking dimension to Zapatero's publicly declared ties with Rodríguez: the former premier described her in March as a "personal friend" whose cooperation had been central to his efforts to secure the release of political prisoners in Venezuela, and he returned to Caracas in February for high-level talks with her in the wake of Nicolas Maduro's capture in January by US special forces. The United States Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control had kept Rodríguez under sanctions since 2019, alongside PDVSA, sharply curtailing Venezuela's access to conventional oil trading channels, though those measures were lifted in April following a thaw between Washington and Caracas after Maduro's removal from power.

According to the ruling, those restrictions gave rise to the parallel intermediation structures under investigation, involving contacts in China, the United Arab Emirates and Europe.

Among the financial vehicles described in the indictment is Inteligencia Prospectiva SL, managed by brothers Domingo and Guillermo Amaro Chacón, whose recorded business activity the judge found inconsistent with bank transactions exceeding €2.6mn. Intercepted messages showed Domingo Amaro Chacón stating he was prepared to travel to meet with Rodríguez and Venezuela's petroleum minister to finalise purchase agreements.

The court order further identifies funds allegedly directed to entities tied to Zapatero's circle, including Análisis Relevante, controlled by associate Julio Martínez Martínez; Whathefav, linked to Zapatero's daughters Alba and Laura; and Gate Center, where the former premier is said to have chaired an advisory board. In total, the ruling claims Zapatero and those close to him received approximately $2.2mn.

Investigators also flagged the incorporation in Dubai of Landside Dubai Fzco, associated with Martínez Martínez's partners, which they believe may have been set up to receive funds outside Spain and obscure their origin.

The judge concluded that the evidence pointed to an organised structure with access to the highest levels of political authority in Venezuela, and that the operations described "far transcend the scope of an ordinary commercial transaction."

Police carried out searches at offices connected to Zapatero and several associated businesses under what authorities called "Operation Tibet." The Spanish government on May 19 said it was monitoring developments "with calm, confidence, prudence and respect for the law."