Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who is being prosecuted after challenging the re-election of President Nicolás Maduro on July 28, is heading to Spain this Sunday, September 8, which has granted him asylum. “At his request, Edmundo Gonzalez is flying to Spain on a Spanish Air Force plane. The government is committed to respecting the political rights and physical integrity of all Venezuelans,” Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on social media.
The opponent, who has been living in hiding for over a month, has been the target of an arrest warrant since September 3 for failing to appear at three summonses from the public prosecutor’s office for “disobedience to the law”, “conspiracy”, “usurpation of functions” and “sabotage”, while the opposition and many observers consider the justice system to be at the beck and call of the government. The Latin American country has been plunged into a political crisis since the election that saw Nicolás Maduro officially re-elected for a third six-year term, a victory contested by the opposition.
Venezuelan authorities announced Saturday that they had granted the opposition leader a safe conduct “in the interest of peace” in the country. “After voluntarily taking refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas a few days ago, he requested political asylum from the Spanish government,” Vice President Delcy Rodriguez wrote on social media. “Venezuela has granted the necessary safe conduct in the interest of peace and political tranquility in the country,” she said. “I confirm that he has left for Spain,” Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia’s lawyer, José Vicente Haro, told AFP, insinuating that he could not make further comments. According to a source close to the opposition, he left Venezuela with his wife, Mercedes.
Opposition calls election stolen
Former ambassador Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, had agreed to replace opposition leader Maria Corina Machado as candidate at short notice, after she was declared ineligible. Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced that he would make “important statements,” which should come this Sunday, according to the prosecutor’s office. Nicolás 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, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia obtained more than 60% of the votes. The United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries do not recognize the re-election of Nicolás Maduro. A large part of the international community had already not recognized his re-election in 2018, following a vote boycotted by the opposition, which had cried fraud.
Spontaneous demonstrations
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. The departure of Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia overshadowed the standoff, Saturday, between Caracas and Brasilia around the residence of the Argentine embassy where six opposition leaders have been sheltering since March.
Caracas has in fact revoked “immediately” the authorization given to Brazil to represent Argentina in the country, and in particular to manage the embassy residence. The Venezuelan authorities assure that they have “evidence” of “the use of the mission for the planning of terrorist actions” and of attempts to assassinate President Maduro by the six opponents.
The Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs immediately reminded Caracas of the “inviolability of the facilities of the Argentine diplomatic mission.” On July 29, Venezuela broke off diplomatic relations with seven Latin American countries, including Argentina, which did not recognize the contested re-election of Nicolás Maduro. The Venezuelan opposition denounced the “siege” of the residence, where according to it, the electricity was cut off. Since Friday evening, it has been surrounded by security forces, AFP journalists noted.
It should be noted that Brazil, governed by the left, could play a key mediating role in putting pressure on Venezuela to restore democracy. “The ideological proximity of Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (Brazil), Gustavo Petro (Colombia) and Andrés Manuel López Obrador (Mexico) with the Nicolás Maduro regime places them in a position as key mediators, but it also questions their ability and willingness to challenge a leader who does not demonstrate not the slightest intention of leaving power“, says the daily Venezuela The National, targeted by judicial repression.