Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez has Fled to SpainThen seek political asylum amid unrest in their country A disputed presidential election.
According to a statement from Spain’s foreign ministry, the opposition presidential candidate arrived with his wife at the Torrejon de Ardoz military base in the Spanish capital, Madrid, on Sunday.
Gonzalez, who has accused President Nicolas Maduro of election fraud, fled the country after an arrest warrant was issued last week as part of a government crackdown on the opposition.
Here’s what’s going on in Venezuela and what’s next:
What happened in Venezuela?
The National Electoral Council said the re-election was won with Maduro 51 percent Vote – theirs Third win He took office as president for the first time in 2013 after the death of his mentor and influential President Hugo Chávez. The United Socialist Party has been in power for the past 25 years.
But the opposition said the July 28 election results were rigged. He said his volunteers obtained 73 percent of the tally sheets issued by the electronic voting machines and they showed that Gonzalez was the real winner of the election. Maduro won 30 percent of the vote, it said.
Protests broke out demanding the release of Election results through individual polling stations.
Maduro’s government has instead cracked down on dissidents and leaders, forcing many to seek refuge in foreign embassies. According to Human Rights Watch, at least 24 people have been killed and nearly 2,400 arrested in connection with the protests.
Venezuelan security forces are currently surrounding the Argentine embassy in Caracas as six opposition leaders seek refuge inside.
González hid for a month, seeking refuge in the Dutch embassy in the Venezuelan capital, followed by the Spanish embassy.
Who is Edmundo Gonzalez?
Edmundo González Urrutia, 75, a retired diplomat, stepped into the political spotlight when the opposition’s Unitary Platform chose him to challenge Maduro, then the main opposition candidate. Maria Corina MachadoRunning was prohibited. They are not affiliated to any party.
González served in diplomatic posts in El Salvador, the United States, and Belgium before being appointed Venezuela’s ambassador to Algeria in 1991.
Why did Gonzalez seek asylum in Spain?
Gonzalez left for Spain out of concern for his safety after being charged with sedition and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
“His life was in danger, and the growing number of threats, summonses, arrest warrants, and blackmail and coercion attempts show that the regime knows no bounds and knows no bounds in its efforts to silence and suppress him,” Machado wrote in an X post on Sunday.
Gonzalez himself echoed this in an audio recording released by the opposition on Sunday in which he said: “My departure from Caracas was surrounded by episodes of pressure, coercion and threats not to allow my departure.”
Could it lead to deportation?
It looks like Gonzalez will continue to be the leader of the opposition in exile, at least for now.
“Edmundo will fight with our diaspora from the outside and I will continue to do so here with you,” Machado wrote in her Sunday X post.
Carlos PinaA Venezuelan political scientist told Al Jazeera that Gonzalez, even abroad, “can be a megaphone for the demands of the opposition, so I believe the fight can continue”.
What’s next for the opposition in Venezuela?
“With Gonzalez’s deportation, a new phase begins in the opposition’s post-election struggle. It is clear,” Pina said.
“From a political point of view, it could be costly for the opposition in the sense that their main leader is, to put it crudely, abandoning ship,” Pina said as Gonzalez departed.
It is important for Machado to stay in Venezuela, he added, because while Machado and Gonzalez have the support of many Venezuelans, there is no guarantee that support will last unless the opposition keeps its campaign active.
Pina said the opposition “must try to redefine its strategies, keep mobilization alive, maintain political struggle and pressure on the government to show electoral records”.
The Unitary Platform consists of 10 parties, from center left to center right.
What does the government say?
The Venezuelan government said it had allowed Gonzalez to leave for “political peace” in the country. He did not elaborate on why Gonzalez was allowed to leave.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab claimed Sunday that Gonzalez’s departure from Venezuela was the result of pressure from Machado’s party.
Saab told CNN that Gonzalez was “forced to make decisions” by the opposition coalition. “It’s a complete fracture in extremist opposition,” he said.
Is Maduro increasingly isolated in the region?
Venezuela’s former ambassador to the United Kingdom, Vanessa Newman, told Al Jazeera that support for Maduro in South America appears to have waned.
“It is very interesting that the Spanish president put it [Gonzalez] in a plane and gave him asylum,” she said, adding that Spain has a left-wing government.
Newman added that after Venezuela on Saturday, Maduro is also at loggerheads with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, “one of his best friends.” Brazil’s authorization revoked To manage and represent the Embassy of Argentina. Earlier, Maduro expelled Argentine diplomatic staff from Venezuela after the Argentine government questioned the election results.
“If you are legitimately elected, standing next to an oppressive dictator who imprisons the opposition and won’t publish election results is not a good look. I think it’s starting to fracture on the left side [in the region]” Newman said.
“I think it’s very difficult at the moment to talk about the Latin American left as if it’s a single entity,” Pina agreed.
The leftist governments of Chile, Brazil and Colombia have called on Maduro to release the election results, but Cuba and Nicaragua, staunch opponents of the United States in the region, have thrown their weight behind Maduro.
Officials from Cuba, Honduras and Bolivia congratulated Maduro on social media after the election. “The people spoke and the revolution won,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote on X.
On August 26, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega offered to send “Sandinista fighters” in support of Maduro if Maduro wanted to mobilize armed “counter-revolutionary” forces.
Venezuela has also received strong support from China and Russia. Both Moscow and Beijing Maduro was congratulated On his election victory.
What are the reactions to Gonzalez leaving Venezuela?
The US and European Union do not recognize Maduro’s victory and instead believe that Gonzalez is the true winner.
- EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell A statement said: “In a democracy, no political leader should be forced to seek asylum in another country.”
- US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken X Post called Gonzalez the last hope for democracy. “We must not allow Maduro and his representatives to cling to power by force.”
- Organization of American StatesThe US An affiliated regional organization said Sunday that Gonzalez had been forced into exile.
- Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Alberes Spanish media said he told Gonzalez he was happy the Venezuelan opposition leader was coming and “I reiterated our government’s commitment to the political rights of all Venezuelans.”
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