Venezuelan opposition candidate for the July presidential election, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, arrived Sunday in Spain, which will grant him asylum. In this context of political crisis, the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken assured him of his support.
Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who is contesting the re-election of Nicolas Maduro, said upon his arrival in Madrid that he would continue the “fight for freedom and the restoration of democracy in Venezuela.” But his departure “is a big blow to the democratic movement because it can be demoralizing,” says political scientist Ana Milagros Parra.
The opposition figure and his wife traveled on a Spanish military plane that landed at around 4 p.m. at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base, near Madrid, according to the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In a short 40-second audio message, the 75-year-old former ambassador spoke of “episodes of pressure, coercion and threats not to let me leave” without giving details, thanking “the expressions of solidarity” received.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken gave him his support on Sunday. “The United States strongly condemns (Nicolas) Maduro’s decision to use repression and intimidation to cling to power through brute force rather than acknowledge defeat at the ballot box,” he said in a statement.
« A danger »
After a month in hiding, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia had to flee to “preserve his freedom and his life,” Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado stressed on X. “His life was in danger, and the increase in threats, summonses, and arrest warrants he has been subjected to shows that the regime has no scruples or limits in its obsession with silencing him and trying to break him,” she added. She assured that Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia “will fight from the outside with the diaspora.” “I will continue to do it here,” she said.
Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia had ignored three summonses to appear before prosecutors, arguing that his appearance could have cost him his freedom. He has “asked for the right to asylum,” Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on national television. “The government will naturally grant it to him.” José Manuel Albares said he had spoken with Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia while he was on the plane, adding that the Venezuelan opponent was “fine.”
Spain, he said, reiterates “the demand that the minutes” of the polling stations during the presidential election be presented and “that they can be verified.” Spain “is not going to recognize any so-called victory” of Nicolas Maduro if these conditions are not met, he warned.
In Caracas, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab, considered to be under the orders of the government, described the opposition candidate’s asylum in Spain as the end of “a season of a humorous work.”
Targeted by an arrest warrant since September 2
The Venezuelan opponent had been the target of an arrest warrant since September 2, with the prosecutor’s office having opened investigations for “disobedience to the laws”, “conspiracy, “usurpation of functions” and “sabotage”. “After voluntarily taking refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas a few days ago, he requested political asylum from the Spanish government,” wrote Vice President Delcy Rodriguez on social media. “Venezuela has granted the necessary safe conducts in the interest of peace and political tranquility in the country.”
Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia had agreed to replace Machado as candidate at short notice, having been declared ineligible. Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner with 52% of the vote by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which did not make public the minutes of the polling stations. According to the opposition, which published the minutes provided by its scrutineers, Mr Gonzalez Urrutia obtained more than 60% of the vote.
27 dead and 2,400 people arrested
The United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries do not recognize Nicolas Maduro’s re-election. A large part of the international community had already not recognized his re-election in 2018 following an election boycotted by the opposition, which had cried fraud.
After the announcement of Nicolas Maduro’s re-election, spontaneous protests broke out. Their repression left 27 dead and 192 injured, while some 2,400 people were arrested, according to official sources. “Today is a sad day for democracy in Venezuela,” said the EU’s foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, on Sunday, specifying that “in a democracy, no political leader should be forced to seek asylum in another country.” He called for “an end to the repression, arbitrary arrests and harassment of members of the opposition and civil society” and the release of “all political prisoners.”