The opponent Edmundo González Urrutia landed in Caracas on Sunday aboard a Spanish Air Force plane after leaving Venezuela on Saturday night. The former presidential candidate arrived at the Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base (Madrid) around 4 pm local time.
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According to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, González, who is traveling accompanied by his wife Mercedes and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Government Affairs, Diego Martínez Belío, He was received this Sunday by the Secretary of State for Ibero-America and Spanish in the World, Susana Sumelzo.
“From now on, the process for requesting asylum will begin, the resolution of which will be favourable in the interest of Spain’s commitment to the political rights and physical integrity of all Venezuelans, especially political leaders,” the Spanish ministry said.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said that the government will grant asylum to the Venezuelan politician at his request, without giving further details. “Spain’s doors to a sister country like Venezuela will always be open, just as the doors of the Spanish Embassy residence have been to Edmundo González,” he said.
Spain’s decision to welcome González was announced hours after Pedro Sánchez, speaking at the PSOE Federal Committee meeting, said that Edmundo González is “a hero whom Spain will not abandon.”
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado explains why Edmundo Gonzalez left Venezuela
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said that González left the country because his “life was in danger” and because of “increasing threats” from the Nicolás Maduro regime against him.
“In the face of this brutal reality, it is necessary for our cause to preserve his freedom, his integrity and his life,” he said, adding that “the attempts at blackmail and coercion to which González was subjected show that the regime has no scruples or limits in its obsession with silencing him and trying to subdue him.”
On Monday, the Public Prosecutor’s Office had issued an arrest warrant against him. after failing to comply with three subpoenas from the Prosecutor’s Office for an investigation related to the publication of the minutes of the July 28 election on a web portal. The Prosecutor’s Office accused him of usurpation of functions, conspiracy, sabotage, among other charges.
The Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, reported On Saturday, the opposition leader left Venezuela with a safe-conduct pass granted “for the sake of political peace and tranquility,” after spending “several days” taking refuge in the Spanish Embassy.
While the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, said that the opposition leader had “to ask for political asylum” in the face of “repression, political persecution and direct threats against his security and freedom” and revealed that Gonzáles remained in “the residence of the Netherlands in Caracas until September 5.”
Borrell recalled that “Edmundo González, according to the copies of the minutes publicly available, would be the presidential candidate who would win the elections by a large majority.” “In a democracy, no political leader should be forced to seek asylum in another country,” stressed the head of European diplomacy.
*With Efe
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