Venezuela’s opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González, who has been granted asylum in Spain, has vowed to “continue to fight” for democracy.
González said in an audio message distributed by his press team that he was “confident that soon we will continue the fight to achieve freedom and the recovery of democracy in Venezuela”.
González had sought refuge at the Spanish embassy in Caracas last week. He had been in hiding after a warrant was issued for his arrest for disputing the outcome of July’s presidential election, of which the government-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Nicolás Maduro the winner.
On Sunday, the BBC reported that Venezuela’s Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez said in a post on social media that Gonzalez had “voluntarily” sought asylum from Spain, that Caracas had agreed to his safe passage and that he had left the country.
Spain’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, said González had left Venezuela on a Spanish Air Force plane.
He added that Spain’s government was committed to the political rights of all Venezuelans.
In Caracas, Venezuelan security forces have surrounded the Argentine embassy, where six political opponents of Maduro are reportedly sheltering. Venezuela’s foreign ministry alleged that terrorist acts were being plotted inside.
A number of countries, including the United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries, have refused to recognize President Maduro as the winner without Caracas releasing detailed voting data.
The Maduro regime has detained more than 2,400 people since the election, creating what the UN has called “a climate of fear”.
According to the BBC, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said González’s departure from Venezuela “is the direct result of the anti-democratic measures that Nicolás Maduro has unleashed on the Venezuelan people, including [Edmundo] González Urrutia and other opposition leaders, since the election”.
He added: “The election results and the will of the people cannot be merely swept aside by Maduro and the Venezuelan electoral authorities. We stand with González Urrutia in his call to continue the struggle for liberty and the restoration of democracy in Venezuela.”
Earlier on Sunday, Vice-President of the European Commission Josep Borrell said: “Today is a sad day for democracy in Venezuela.” He added that “in a democracy, no political leader should be forced to seek asylum in another country”.
[Image: David Peterson from Pixabay]