Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia left the country on Saturday after seeking asylum in Spain.
Nicolás Maduro’s vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, shared a post on Instagram, which informed that González left the country after “voluntarily” seeking political asylum at the Spanish embassy.
González was granted safe passage by the Maduro regime “for the sake of the country’s political tranquility and peace,” the statement added.
Earlier this week, the Maduro-allied Public Prosecutor’s Office issued an arrest warrant for González, the 75-year-old retired diplomat who ran against Maduro and has opposed the authoritarian leader’s re-election.
González is widely believed to have won the July 28 election after the opposition coalition released over 80% of precinct-level polling tabulations showing he won a majority, while the Maduro regime has yet to release any evidence.
Since the election, the country has been plunged into political turmoil and González Urrutia has been in hiding.
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said that “González, at his request, is flying to Spain on a Spanish Air Force plane,” via X.
He added that “the Government of Spain is committed to the political rights and physical integrity of all Venezuelans”.
On Friday, Spanish President Pedro Sánchez called González a “hero” and vowed that “Spain will not abandon him.”
González’s lawyer, José Vicente Haro, confirmed this AFP that the leader of the opposition had left for Spain but did not give any other details. Sources close to the opposition informed that he has left with his wife Mercedes.
Before González left the country, security forces in Caracas surrounded the Argentine embassy, which has housed six opposition campaign officials since late March. The Embassy’s power supply has also been cut, according to reports.
The embassy has been represented by a delegation from Brazil since diplomatic relations broke down between Argentina and Venezuela following disputed elections.
On Saturday, the Maduro government lifted Brazil’s custody of the Argentine Embassy due to allegations of “planning terrorist activities and assassination attempts” against President Maduro and Vice President Rodríguez at the Embassy, a Foreign Ministry statement said.
