Edmundo González leaves Venezuela and heads to Spain after receiving political asylum

Edmundo González Urrutia left Venezuela on Saturday and is flying to Spain, where he has received political asylum, according to diplomatic sources who spoke to EL PAÍS. The opposition candidate, who represented María Corina Machado in the last elections against Nicolás Maduro, held a meeting on Saturday morning with Spanish diplomats. According to these same sources, former Spanish prime minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero played a key role in these negotiations.

The diplomatic operation to grant Edmundo González asylum has been going on for two weeks. Spain insists that it was Edmundo himself who requested political asylum, but other sources privy to the talks maintain that the offer is the result of a negotiation that even included Delcy and Jorge Rodríguez, the political allies closest to Maduro.

On Friday, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez called González a “hero” and said that Spain was not going to abandon him. At that time, it was known that the opposition leader was close to making a decision. On Saturday, while safe conducts were being prepared so that González could arrive at the airport and leave Venezuela without being detained by authorities, a Spanish military plane was waiting in the Dominican Republic to transfer him as soon as possible to Madrid.

Vice President Delcy Rodríguez was the Chavista spokesperson who announced that González had left Venezuela. In a message on social media, she said that Venezuela had granted the presidential candidate the “due safe conducts” for the sake of “the tranquility and political peace of the country.”

Spanish Foreign Affairs Minister José Manuel Albares told the press that González, not Spain, initiated the process. “Gonzalez has requested the right of asylum, and Spain is of course going to grant it to him. I have been able to speak with him, he has expressed his gratitude and I have expressed my happiness that he is well,” said Albares, who denied that there was any negotiation with the government of Nicolás Maduro.

Albares added that Spain will not recognize Maduro’s controversial victory in the July 28 elections while it refuses to release the voter tally sheets. These records are printed by the voting machines and then retained by the electoral authorities, the military that guard the electoral records, and the witnesses of each party. The opposition quickly collected and scanned these documents, and with 83.5% of these tally sheets, were able to show that González Urrutia won 67% of the vote.

Venezuela’s Prosecutor’s Office, however, classified these records as false, despite the observations made by a U.N. panel of experts who stated that after analyzing a small sample, they found that they maintained the security parameters to make them reliable.

There is so far no sign that other members of the opposition, or María Corina Machado — the undisputed leader of the opposition — are thinking of following the same path as González. The 75-year-old was facing jail after being accused by the Maduro government of five charges, and has sought asylum in Spain, along with his wife.

Some 100,000 Venezuelans have taken advantage of a special regime set up by Spain due to the tensions in the country. Before leaving the country, González had been staying at the Spanish ambassador’s residence in Caracas. When Venezuelan security forces surrounded the Argentine embassy on Friday, it was a clear signal, both for González and Spanish diplomats, that there is no safe haven in Venezuela right now.

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