New episode in the Venezuelan presidential election. The former opposition candidate in this election, Edmundo Gonzalez, left his country to go to Spain a little over a month after the disputed result of this vote that officially confirmed Nicolas Maduro in his post.
“Edmundo Gonzalez took off from Caracas towards Spain on board a Spanish Air Force plane,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told X, specifying that Madrid was responding to a request from the former candidate. Spain will “naturally” grant political asylum to the opposition candidate in Venezuela, according to the government.
Arrest warrant
Tensions had been rising in the country since the July 28 election. For the Venezuelan opposition, it ended in a resounding victory for Edmundo Gonzalez. Gonzalez’s friends even published online vote counts that they said showed he had won. Protests broke out when the results were announced and were harshly repressed by the Venezuelan police, resulting in dozens of deaths. In the aftermath, the Maduro camp accused the opposition of fomenting the violence.
This week, the president went further. The public prosecutor issued an arrest warrant for Edmundo Gonzalez in connection with the online publication of the results, accusing him of usurpation of functions, falsification of public documents and criminal association. The escape was therefore necessary.
On the international level, the United States, as well as five Latin American states including Argentina, Ecuador and Uruguay, have recognized the victory of the opposition. More conciliatory, the European Union continues to demand the publication of the minutes, as do Mexico, Brazil and Colombia. On the other hand, Bolivia, China, Cuba, Iran, Nicaragua and Russia have welcomed Nicolas Maduro’s victory.