Venezuela opposition leader Gonzalez flies to Spain after arrest warrant

CARACAS/MADRID (Reuters) – Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez left for Spain overnight and was seeking asylum, officials said on Sunday, amid a mounting political and diplomatic crisis over the disputed results of July’s election.

A plane carrying Gonzalez – who has challenged President Nicolas Maduro’s declaration of victory – had stopped off in Portugal’s Azores islands and was expected in Spain in the coming hours, Spanish media reported.

The dramatic exit of the 75-year-old – seen by the U.S., the EU and other powers in the region as the winner of the vote – came a week after Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant for him, accusing him of conspiracy and other crimes.

“Today is a sad day for democracy in Venezuela,” European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement. “In a democracy, no political leader should be forced to seek asylum in another country.”

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said on Instagram authorities had given Gonzalez safe passage in a bid to restore “political peace”.

He left Venezuela after “voluntarily seeking refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas several days ago,” she wrote on Instagram.

Gonzalez took off from Caracas on a Spanish Air Force plane, Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares posted on X, saying Madrid was responding to a request from Gonzalez.

The move marked another jolting shift in the fortunes of Gonzalez, a former diplomat who came out of retirement and took over the candidacy in March, initially as a placeholder after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and then another replacement could not stand.

Venezuela’s opposition say the July 28 election resulted in a resounding victory for Gonzalez, and published vote tallies online that they say show he won.

Maduro had dismissed all such accusations and said there is a right-wing plot to sabotage his government.

EMBASSIES, TALKS

There was no immediate comment from the opposition coalition he represented on his departure or his movements since the arrest warrant was issued.

He had sought refuge in the Dutch and then the Spanish embassy in Venezuela, according to Dutch and Venezuelan officials.

Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said on Sunday that Gonzalez had urgently requested refuge in the Dutch embassy the day after the election.

“At the beginning of September, Edmundo Gonzalez indicated that he wanted to leave the residence and the country … He indicated that he nevertheless wanted to leave and continue his fight from Spain”, Veldkamp added.

Spanish officials, including former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, held a week of negotiations with Venezuelan authorities, a source with knowledge of the talks told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Venezuelan security forces surrounded the Argentine embassy in the capital Caracas this weekend, where six Venezuelan political opposition figures opposed to President Nicolas Maduro are also staying.

Members of the Venezuelan opposition posted pictures and videos of security vehicles around the embassy complex.

(Reporting by Belen Carreno and Corina Pons in Madrid, Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam; Writing by Ana Cantero; Editing by Andrew Heavens)