VVenezuela entered a new phase of its political crisis with the exile of opposition leader Edmundo González after leaving the country for Spain. The details of how his asylum was coordinated are still unclear, there are still many doubts and questions in the air, and in particular, whether it was an operation that María Corina Machado was aware of or whether it was carried out behind her back.
According to the criteria of
The opposition leadership has justified González’s departure by arguing that his life was at risk and that he will be able to continue working for democracy from Madrid. What is clear, at least for the moment, is that Machado will not go into exile.
“I have decided to stay in Venezuela and support the fight from here while he does so from abroad,” the opposition leader said in a virtual statement to journalists on Monday.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
Photo:
EL TIEMPO asked Machado if she was aware of González’s plans to leave the country and how the inauguration would take place on January 10, but the opposition leader preferred not to answer questions.
González surprised on Monday morning with a statement that, for many analysts, in addition to being brief, could be interpreted as discouraging. and even as a kind of farewell to the democratic cause. Unlike other texts, he signed only as Edmundo González Urrutia, without the qualification of president-elect.
I have made this decision thinking about Venezuela and that our destiny as a country cannot, should not be, one of a conflict of pain and suffering.
“I have made this decision thinking about Venezuela and that our destiny as a country cannot, should not, be one of conflict, pain and suffering. I have done this thinking about my family and all Venezuelan families. I have done this so that things change and we can build a new era for Venezuela,” González wrote in the statement published on his social networks.
He also thanked and “vindicated” the work of María Corina Machado who led the electoral process,” the text reads.
For political scientist Pablo Andrés Quintero, González’s exile undoubtedly represents a hard blow to the opposition’s proposal.
Edmundo Gonzalez.
Photo:
“Being in exile, it will be much more difficult to materialize the proposal of swearing-in on January 10 (…). The winner in this is the Government, because it strengthens its internal position, assuming the political cost of having a former presidential candidate in exile,” Quintero said in statements to the Voice of America.
However, for the director of the consulting firm Datanálisis, Luis Vicente León, Gonzalez’s decision is personal and has to do with many variables that include personal and family security.“So it is absurd to criticize Edmundo González Urrutia, who by the way never asked anyone to sacrifice themselves or fight violently in his name.”
The winner here is the government, as it strengthens its internal position, assuming the political cost of having a former presidential candidate in exile.
Leon also believes that the Maduro government made an intelligent decision by giving the go-ahead for his departure from the country, Keeping González in an embassy or imprisoned in Venezuela “would only aggravate the country’s already strained international relations and make it more difficult to return to the search for a negotiated solution to the political and economic crisis,” the analyst said.
In her statement on Monday, Machado had a look of annoyance, but for her, the fact that her ally is now in Spain “does not change anything at all, the urgency remains, the legitimacy remains.”
Machado also added that the process and details of Edmundo’s departure from Venezuela “will be known in due time.” because “no one today has the precise details of the complexity of the operation that was behind it that transcends local actors (…) many aspects of the same process that Edmundo is responsible for informing Venezuelans about, are not up to me,” insisted the opponent.
Venezuelans await the arrival of Edmundo González at the military airport in Torrejón de Ardoz, Spain.
Photo:
In the middle of the statement, Machado was emphatic and said that what was up to her was to speak to the country and that she is in a new phase of struggle that, of course, increased the risk of persecution against her.
Political scientist Nicmer Evans assured this newspaper that the important thing at this moment is to maintain cohesive unity and continue working from Venezuela. for political change.
Concern about this stage of the Venezuelan political conflict is also evident in the international community. The United Nations and the Organization of American States consider that The measure of forced exile further undermines any possibility of dialogue in Venezuela.
Especially when the opposition demonstrated with more than 24,000 votes that they won the election with 7,000,000 votes over Nicolás Maduro’s 3,000,000.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro, along with his Mexican and Brazilian counterparts, Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, respectively, have attempted to mediate the crisis, but to no avail.
González joins the list of Venezuelan exiles and asylum seekers, which includes journalists, politicians and human rights defenders. Juan Guaidó, Leopoldo López and Antonio Ledezma, Julio Borges, Dinorah Figuera, Richard Blanco, Juan Pablo García, David Smolansky, Carlos Vecchio, Miguel Henrique Otero, are some of the opponents who fled the country.
#crisis #Venezuela #enters #phase #exile #opposition #leader #Edmundo #González #Urrutia
