Brazil Opposition candidate González has left Venezuela

Around six weeks after the presidential election in Venezuela, which was overshadowed by allegations of fraud, the opposition candidate Edmundo González has left the country.

He will be flown to Spain on a Spanish air force plane at his own request, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced on the X platform.

González had been in Spain's embassy in the capital Caracas for days and had asked the EU country for asylum, wrote Venezuela's Vice President Delcy Rodríguez on Instagram. The Venezuelan government had granted him safe passage in the interests of political peace. The opposition initially made no public statements on the matter.

After the presidential election on July 28, the electoral authority loyal to the government declared Nicolás Maduro, the authoritarian head of state who has been in power since 2013, the winner. The Supreme Court, which is also loyal to the government, confirmed the result. However, the government did not publish the breakdown of the results. The opposition accuses it of electoral fraud and claims victory for González. The 75-year-old had become a candidate after opposition leader María Corina Machado was banned from holding public office for 15 years due to alleged irregularities from her time as a member of parliament.

Several countries do not recognize Maduro as the winner

The USA and several Latin American countries recognize González as the winner of the election. The European Union is also questioning the official election result.

The Venezuelan Attorney General's Office issued an arrest warrant for González. Among other things, he is accused of usurpation of office, incitement to disregard the law, conspiracy and sabotage. González let three summonses lapse. The whereabouts of the former diplomat were recently unknown.

Protests broke out during the election, which were violently suppressed by the authorities. According to the human rights organization Provea, 25 people lost their lives and more than 2,400 were arrested.

Maduro's re-election in 2018 was not recognized by many countries. The then parliamentary president Juan Guaidó declared himself interim president in 2019, but was unable to assert himself in the country - mainly because the military backed Maduro.

SDA