Spain: Daughters of former Prime Minister Zapatero received more than 100,000 euros from trolling and repression company linked to Chavista propaganda

The Tax Agency and the Economic and Fiscal Crime Unit (UDEF) included in their reports payments of 100,965 euros made between 2023 and 2024 by the Panamanian company Venqis to Whathefav SL, the advertising agency of Laura and Alba Rodríguez Espinosa, daughters of former Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. This is according to information published by El Confidencial based on documentation included in the court summary of the Plus Ultra case.

According to the publication, Venqis participated in digital campaigns supporting candidates aligned with Chavismo in Venezuela, Panama, Bolivia and the Dominican Republic, in addition to collaborating in propaganda operations on social networks through fake accounts on X, formerly Twitter.

"On the one hand, Golabek launched in 2021, on the occasion of the Venezuelan regional elections in November of that year, hundreds of fake accounts on X (formerly Twitter) to support chavismo candidates and pressure opposition contenders not to contest the elections. The analysis of those troll accounts revealed that they also supported candidates aligned with the Puebla Group from Panama, Dominican Republic and Bolivia", highlighted El Confidencial.

The article notes that the Tax Agency places Venqis among the main clients of Whathefav SL during 2023 and 2024. Specifically, the company received 28,800 euros in 2023 and another 72,165 euros in 2024.

The information adds that the documents included in the court summary "do not specify" exactly what work was carried out by Laura and Alba Rodríguez Espinosa for the business structure linked to Venqis. However, it links those payments to the creation in Venezuela of "El Server," a platform focused on video games and e-sports in which Whathefav SL participated.