The Venezuelan opposition candidate claiming victory over President Nicolas Maduro has left the country aboard a Spanish military plane.
The opposition candidate who claims victory in the July 28 presidential election against Nicolas Maduro, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, left Venezuela on Saturday, September 7, to everyone’s surprise, for Spain, which granted him asylum.
The Venezuelan authorities granted him a safe conduct “in the interest of peace” in the country.
Venezuela has been mired in political crisis since the election that saw Nicolas Maduro officially re-elected for a third six-year term. The opposition is contesting the re-election.
Spain ready to welcome him
“Today, September 7, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia (…) left the country. After voluntarily taking refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas a few days ago, he requested political asylum from the Spanish government,” wrote Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on social media.
“Venezuela has granted the necessary safe conducts in the interest of peace and political tranquility in the country,” she said.
“I confirm that he left for Spain,” Mr Gonzalez Urrutia’s lawyer, José Vicente Haro, told AFP, saying he could not comment further. According to a source close to the opposition, he left Venezuela with his wife, Mercedes.
“At his request, Edmundo Gonzalez is flying to Spain on a Spanish Air Force plane. The Spanish government is committed to respecting the political rights and physical integrity of all Venezuelans,” Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on social media, citing a government statement.
Arrest warrant
Former ambassador Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, had agreed to replace opposition leader Maria Corina Machado as candidate at short notice, after she had been declared ineligible.
The opponent, who had been living in hiding for over a month, had been the target of an arrest warrant since September 3 for failing to appear at three summonses from the public prosecutor’s office concerning an investigation into the opposition website that claims he is the winner. He had not been seen in public since July 30.
The investigation focuses on accusations of “disobedience to the law”, “conspiracy”, “usurpation of functions” and “sabotage”. The opposition and many observers consider that justice is at the beck and call of those in power.
Nicolas Maduro, whose victory was validated by the Supreme Court on August 22, was declared the winner with 52% of the vote by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which has not made public the minutes of the polling stations, saying it was the victim of computer hacking.
Such a computer attack is considered implausible by the opposition and many observers, who see it as a maneuver by the government to avoid disclosing the exact count. According to the opposition, which published the minutes provided by its scrutineers, Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia obtained more than 60% of the votes.
Disputed election
The United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries do not recognize Nicolas Maduro’s re-election. Much of the international community had already not recognized his re-election in 2018 during an election boycotted by the opposition, which had cried fraud.
After the announcement of his re-election on July 28, spontaneous demonstrations broke out. They left 27 dead and 192 injured, while some 2,400 people were arrested, according to official sources.
“Maduro thinks he can kill people, make them disappear, put them in detention, and nothing will happen,” opposition leader Machado said on Thursday. “That’s not true (…) He must be held responsible for the crimes he has committed.”
The International Criminal Court (ICC) had opened an investigation against Venezuela for possible crimes against humanity following the repression of protests in 2017 that left some 200 dead.
