Edmundo González: ‘I have not been coerced by the Spanish government or by the ambassador’

Edmundo González, the Venezuelan opposition’s presidential candidate who has been living in exile in Spain since early September, issued a statement on Thursday in which he said he had not been pressured by the Spanish government to leave Venezuela: “I have not been coerced by the Spanish government or by the Spanish ambassador in Venezuela, Ramón Santos. The diplomatic efforts carried out had the sole purpose of facilitating my departure from the country, without exerting any kind of pressure on me,” says the statement issued by González, who is widely considered the winner of the presidential election of July 28 after the opposition published vote tallies showing he secured nearly 70% of votes. President Nicolás Maduro has claimed victory but failed to produce any vote tallies to prove it, and he has tightened his grip on power despite evidence that he committed fraud.

The 75-year-old González was facing jail after being accused by the Maduro government of five charges, and sought asylum in Spain, along with his wife. He had been in hiding for over a month. The government began targeting the opposition a year ago, when members started to organize themselves for the primaries, and the pressure intensified after the disputed election.

The conservative Popular Party (PP), the opposition party in Spain, has accused the government of Pedro Sánchez, a Socialist, of manoeuvering in favour of Venezuela’s Chavista regime to secure the exile of Edmundo González and thus divide the Venezuelan opposition. González, in a very forceful letter, denies that any this has happened: “The Spanish government undertook to guarantee my safety during the journey to the Spanish Armed Forces plane, as well as my arrival in Spain, and that is how it happened. These measures had the main purpose of allowing the processing of my asylum application before the Spanish State to proceed under conditions of security and respect for my rights.”

Edmundo González’s departure from the country on September 7 had been shrouded in mystery. Harassed by the Chavista justice system, the opposition leader decided within days to leave for Spain. On Wednesday, however, it emerged that in order to be allowed to leave the Spanish embassy in Caracas and board a plane, two high-ranking Venezuelan officials, Jorge and Delcy Rodríguez — Maduro’s two main political operators — forced him to sign a document in which he accepted the decision of the Venezuelan Supreme Court, which decreed that Maduro had won the election despite all the evidence to the contrary. In that document, Edmundo also promised not to operate as an elected president in exile. The Venezuelan government released images in which the Chavista leaders and González were seen signing that letter at the residence of the Spanish ambassador. Photographs of Ramón Santos accompanying the opposition leader to the steps of the plane were also released.

The revelation caused a shock in Venezuela, but also in Spain, where the issue has become a matter of national policy. The deputy secretary of Institutional Affairs of the PP, Esteban González Pons, said in an interview on Es Radio that the government of Spain has become involved in what he describes as a “coup d’état.” Pons said that the Sánchez administration had “coerced and sent the elected president into exile.” He added that “the government of Spain has been a necessary collaborator.” The government has replied that its role was limited to facilitating the departure of González, who at that time was subject to an arrest warrant issued by the Venezuelan Attorney General’s Office, in the hands of Chavismo. Spanish government sources indicate that the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, spoke up to four times in person with Edmundo González — twice when he was in Caracas and twice on the plane on the way to Madrid — to ensure that he was going to Spain of his own free will. González’s response was unequivocally affirmative, according to this source.

Jorge Rodríguez, who has begun to ironically call González “the coerced one,” had challenged him with debunking his allegations of being pressured into signing by himself and his sister Delcy, who is the vice president of Venezuela. On Thursday afternoon he gave a press conference in which he presented audio snippets of the conversation recorded during the meeting they had on the eve of González’s departure, inside the residence of the Spanish ambassador.

Rodríguez, who is the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, asserted that during the conversation they talked about the plans that “fascist sectors” had to attack Maduro, the vice-president and the minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello. “We have not found evidence that you (González Urrutia) are involved in those acts, but we do have a lot of evidence of Ms. María Corina Machado and her inner circle that encourages, plans and finances these acts and he quite coolly told me that yes, he knew about it.” Rodríguez did not present audios of this alleged part of the conversation. Nor did he clarify whether those present in the room were aware that they were being recorded.

Rodriguez added that there is a second document in which González asks government officials to respect his assets, and which he also threatens to disclose. “The gentleman has said that he is leaving the country to continue fighting for the freedom of the prisoners. But that remains mere talk, because there is a second document in which he asks that his property and his home and those of his family and friends be respected. In no part of this document is there any plea on behalf of the prisoners. Do not force me to publish it.”

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