Former Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has left the country after seeking asylum in Spain. The Spanish foreign minister José Manuel Albares confirmed that Gonzalez sought asylum in the country.
“Edmundo Gonzalez at his own request, flew to Spain on a Spanish air force plane,” Albares said in a statement. “The government of Spain is committed to the political rights and physical integrity of all Venezuelans,” it added.
Gonzalez's sudden departure is a blow to the efforts to overthrow President Nicols Maduro from the seat. Several foreign governments consider Gonzalez as the winner of July's presidential race.
His surprise decision comes after the government ordered his arrest in connection with an election sabotage case.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said in a message posted on Instagram that Gonzalez had “voluntarily” sought refuge at Spain's embassy in Caracas several days ago. She said the government decided to grant Gonzalez safe passage out of the country to help restore the country's political peace and tranquillity.
When opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was banned from running, Gonzalez, 75 took the stand against Maduro.
Most Western governments are yet to recognise Maduro’s election victory. They are demanding the authorities to publish the breakdown of votes. The opposition had claimed that the tally sheets collected by its volunteers indicated that Gonzalez won by over a 2-to-1 margin.
The National Electoral Council published online the results of more than 30,000 voting machines but the delay in releasing the data on time by the Maduro-controlled panel had raised allegations of rigging.
Venezuela election observed by the UN experts had determined that the results announced by electoral authorities lacked credibility. In a statement, the experts had stopped short of validating the opposition's claim to victory, but they said the voting records it published online appear to exhibit all of the original security features.