The opposition leader in Venezuela and candidate for the presidency of his country Edmundo González Urrutia in the elections of July 28 issued a statement this Thursday in Madrid in which He clarifies that he has not been coerced by the Government of Spain to be transferred and granted asylum in this country..
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“I have not been coerced by the Government of Spain or by the Spanish ambassador in Venezuela, Ramón Santos,” he says in the statement, which begins by justifying it “in light of the various versions circulating regarding alleged coercion by Spanish state officials.”
I have not been coerced by the Government of Spain or by the Spanish ambassador to Venezuela, Ramón Santos.
González Urrutia emphasizes that All the arrangements for his transfer “were supervised and facilitated directly by the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Alabares, ensuring my well-being and freedom of decision at all times”.
“The diplomatic efforts undertaken had the sole purpose of facilitating my departure from the country, without putting any kind of pressure on me,” said the Venezuelan presidential candidate, who was recognized as the president-elect of his country on Thursday.
“With this clarification, I hope to clear up any doubts or misunderstandings regarding the nature of my transfer and to reiterate my gratitude to the Spanish authorities for their support and commitment to the protection of human rights,” the statement concluded.
This statement comes, on the one hand, after it was revealed from Venezuela that González Urrutia had signed a document in which he recognized Nicolás Maduro’s victory in the elections of July 28which the opposition leader has admitted and clarified that he did under coercion by the authorities of his country, as a condition for traveling to Spain.
On the other hand, from the main opposition party in Spain, the conservative Popular Party, This Thursday, the Spanish Government was accused of being involved “as a necessary collaborator” in the “coup d’état that has taken place in Venezuela” and pointed to former President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero as the “great plotter” of the “operation”.
The deputy secretary of Institutional Affairs of the PP, Esteban González Pons, has expressed the “disgust”, “shame” and “indignation” that the video in which the former presidential candidate and Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González, exiled since September 8 in Spain, denounces that he signed under “coercion” in the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas a document recognizing the victory of Nicolás Maduro, has produced in him.
These statements have been rejected by the Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, who has urged the leader of the PP, Alberto Nuñez Feijóo, to ask Pons to retract his statement.
Albares thanks González for defending the truth against slander
The Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of the Government of Spain, José Manuel Albares, thanked the Venezuelan opposition leader for having defended the truth in the face of slander against Spain, after denying having been coerced by the Spanish Government to go into exile.
“Thank you Edmundo González Urrutia for defending the truth against slander and insults against Spain and its foreign service”the minister posted in a message on X.
Albares added: “There are times when Alberto Núñez Feijóo and the PP should be in opposition and others when we should be one country.” “Spain is committed to democracy and human rights,” he concluded.
Venezuelan parliament speaker says Gonzalez signed his ‘capitulation’
The president of the National Assembly (AN, Parliament) of Venezuela, the Chavista Jorge Rodríguez, said this Thursday that The standard-bearer of the majority opposition signed the “capitulation” to his presidential “aspiration” by signing the document that confirmed his exile to Spain.
“This is nothing more than a capitulation (…) of a certain position and a certain aspiration that was overthrown by the people (…). It is a surrender,” he said, in statements broadcast by the state channel VTV, on the occasion of the expiration of the 24-hour deadline he gave the opposition to deny his complaint about alleged coercion by the government to sign the document.
In that sense, according to Rodriguez, The standard-bearer of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) – the largest opposition bloc – “had expressed his desire to leave” and “flee” the Caribbean country, so he would “present a document” with “his position” and “what his conduct would be” after “leaving” Venezuela..
“They came after us,” said the deputy, who is also the chief negotiator between the government of Nicolás Maduro and the opposition.
However, in a video on social media, González Urrutia said that the document was presented by representatives of the Maduro government under the threat that if he did not do so he would have to “face the consequences”, a “coercion” that, in his opinion, nullifies the text, and which he had already denounced upon his arrival in Madrid.
This letter served as a guarantee for the Venezuelan authorities to issue the safe conduct so that the 75-year-old diplomat could travel to the airport and take the flight.on a Spanish Air Force plane, which finally took him to Spain, where he has requested political asylum.
Venezuela has been in a political crisis since the National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Maduro the winner of the July 28 elections based on results that are still unknown in detail, which is considered by the PUD as a “fraud” by insisting on González Urrutia’s “victory.”
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