By Ana Cantero and Vivian Sequera
MADRID/CARACAS (Reuters) -Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez flew into Spain on Sunday to hunt asylum, Madrid mentioned, hours after quitting his nation amid a political and diplomatic disaster over July’s disputed election.
Gonzalez – who has challenged President Nicolas Maduro’s declaration of victory – arrived on the Torrejon de Ardoz army base together with his spouse, Spain’s overseas ministry mentioned in a press release.
The exit of the 75-year-old – seen by the U.S., the EU and different powers within the area because the winner of the vote – got here per week after Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant for him, accusing him of conspiracy and different crimes.
“In the present day is a tragic day for democracy in Venezuela,” European Union overseas coverage chief Josep Borrell mentioned in a press release. “In a democracy, no political chief ought to be pressured to hunt asylum abroad.”
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez mentioned on Instagram authorities had given Gonzalez protected passage in a bid to revive “political peace”. Spain’s overseas ministry mentioned there had been no official talks with the Venezuelan authorities on Gonzalez’s exit.
Venezuela’s opposition say the July 28 election resulted in a powerful victory for Gonzalez, and printed vote tallies on-line that they are saying present he gained.
Maduro has dismissed all such assertions and says there was a right-wing plot to sabotage his authorities.
Gonzalez’s transfer to Spain marked one other jolting shift within the fortunes of the previous diplomat who got here out of retirement and took over the candidacy in March, initially as a placeholder after opposition chief Maria Corina Machado after which one other substitute couldn’t stand.
Machado confirmed on X that Gonzalez was now in Spain, including he had fled to guard his “freedom, his integrity and his life”.
“The growing threats, summons, arrest warrants and even the makes an attempt at blackmail and coercion to which he has been subjected present that the regime has no scruples or limits in its obsession to silence him and attempt to break him,” she wrote.
Gonzalez would proceed to struggle for the opposition from Spain, whereas she would proceed to take action inside Venezuela, Machado mentioned, and vowed that he can be sworn in on Jan. 10, 2025, when the subsequent presidential time period begins.
EMBASSIES, TALKS
Spanish International Minister Jose Manuel Albares instructed Spanish TV he had instructed Gonzalez “any particular person whose bodily integrity or basic rights could also be endangered can be welcomed in Spain and its embassy.”
He added that his relocation to Spain had been deliberate for days and the overseas ministry mentioned Gonzalez’s asylum course of would now begin.
Gonzalez had sought refuge within the Dutch after which the Spanish embassy in Venezuela after the election, Dutch and Venezuelan officers mentioned.
Dutch International Minister Caspar Veldkamp mentioned in a letter to his parliament on Sunday that Gonzalez had urgently requested refuge within the Dutch embassy the day after the election.
“At first of September, Edmundo Gonzalez indicated that he … needed to go away and proceed his struggle from Spain”, Veldkamp added.
Spanish officers, together with former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, linked to diplomatic relations within the South American nation previously, have been concerned in per week of negotiations with Venezuelan authorities for Gonzalez to go away the nation, a supply with information of the talks instructed Reuters, talking on situation of anonymity.
OPPOSITION PRESSES FOR MORE PROTESTS
That Maduro allowed Gonzalez’s departure regardless of the arrest warrant he was dealing with could soften some harsh latest worldwide criticism of him.
Machado, although, stays topic of an investigation and has largely been sequestered at an unknown location because the vote, rising solely often to steer rallies. Gonzalez’s departure got here lower than 24 hours after safety forces surrounded Argentina’s former embassy in Caracas, now being protected by Brazil, the place six opposition staffers have been sheltering since warrants have been issued for them in March.
Legal professional Common Tarek Saab, who met with Gonzalez’s lawyer this week and who has been one of many opposition’s most strident accusers, is ready to carry a press convention afterward Sunday.
The opposition is urgent for extra road protests and worldwide strain for its victory to be acknowledged, however thus far these techniques have borne no fruit, with army leaders lining up behind Maduro, and no stepped-up sanctions or different worldwide motion because the vote amid waning attendance at anti-government rallies.