Maduro rival leaves Venezuela for Spain

Edmundo Gonzalez, accused of multiple crimes in Venezuela, has been granted safe passage out of the country

Venezuelan opposition figure Edmundo Gonzalez, the main rival to President Nicolas Maduro in the recent presidential election, has left the country for Spain, where he is expected to be granted political asylum.

The 75-year-old politician was evacuated from the country by a Spanish Air Force plane on Sunday. Gonzalez had already requested political asylum in the country, and Madrid would “obviously” grant it, Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares has said.

Caracas said it has agreed to let the politician have safe passage abroad, despite him being accused of several crimes, for the “sake of the tranquility and political peace of the country,” Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez has said. Before his exit was agreed on, the politician had stayed for an unspecified amount of time at Spain’s embassy as a “voluntary refugee,” she noted in a statement.

Gonzalez went into hiding shortly after the July presidential election. According to official figures provided by the National Electoral Council, Maduro won with 52% of the vote. The opposition, however, has accused Caracas of rigging the polls, claiming Gonzalez was in fact the true winner, with some 67% of ballots.

The opposition candidate was backed by the US, along with the EU and several other countries that refused to recognize Maduro’s victory. Other nations, however, including China and Russia, backed the elected president and recognized the outcome of the vote.

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Early in September, the Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant for the opposition figure, accusing Gonzalez of multiple crimes, including incitement to disobey laws, forgery of public documents, usurpation of public functions, conspiracy, criminal association, and sabotage.

The development comes as six Venezuelan opposition figures remain holed up at the Argentine embassy in Caracas, with the facility surrounded by local security forces. Venezuela and Argentina broke off diplomatic relations with each other immediately after the presidential election, as Buenos Aires was quick to question its outcome.

The embassy grounds have been managed by Brazil, which has been authorized to represent its interests in the country. On Saturday, however, Caracas revoked the authorization, citing evidence the embassy was being used as a staging point for an alleged plan to attempt “magnicide”: a hit on Maduro or Rodriguez. Caracas did not elaborate on the evidence it obtained, while Brazil said the decision took it by “surprise” and strengthened its intention to represent Argentina’s interests.

“The Brazilian government highlights in this context, under the terms of the Vienna Conventions, the inviolability of the facilities of the Argentine diplomatic mission, which currently houses six Venezuelan asylum seekers in addition to assets and archives,” the Brazilian authorities said in a statement.