Opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia had no choice but to flee Venezuela for exile in Spain to save his own life amid a "brutal wave of repression" after disputed presidential elections, allies said Sunday.
"His life was in danger, and the increasing threats, subpoenas, arrest warrants and even attempts at blackmail and coercion against him show that the regime has no scruples or limits in its obsession to silence him and try to bring him down," said fellow opposition leader María Corina Machado in a post on the X social network.
"Faced with this brutal reality, it is necessary for our cause to preserve his freedom, his integrity and his life," she added.
González Urrutia – who insists he, not strongman Nicolas Maduro, is Venezuela’s legitimate elected leader – said Monday he fled to Spain "so that things can change" and appealed for "dialogue."
He arrived in Madrid late Sunday after weeks in hiding. The opposition says it can prove he won the July 28 elections in which Maduro – in power since 2013 – claimed a widely disputed victory.
"I decided to leave Venezuela... so that things can change and so we can build a new stage for Venezuela," the 75-year-old wrote in a letter addressed to Venezuelans posted on X, before adding that "only the policy of dialogue will enable us to reunite as compatriots.”
"It is a gesture that reaches out to everyone and I hope that as such it will be reciprocated," he said.
"I have taken this decision thinking of Venezuela and that our destiny as a country cannot, must not, be that of a conflict of pain and suffering."
Shortly after touching down on a military plane with his spouse, González Urrutia's press team distributed an audio message in which he pledged to "continue the fight to achieve freedom and the recovery of democracy in Venezuela."
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares confirmed to local station Radio Onda Cero earlier on Monday that Madrid would grant González Urrutia asylum, saying he is "better off in Spain" than in hiding nor in jail in Venezuela.
Sources close to González Urrutia said he will not speak publicly or grant media interviews until he is received by Albares and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who are both on an official visit to China.
The meeting could take place on Thursday, the sources said.
‘Brutal wave of repression’
González Urrutia left because "his life was in danger," said Machado on X, citing a "brutal wave of repression."
The veteran diplomat had replaced Machado on the ballot at the last minute after she was prevented from running by institutions loyal to Maduro, accused by observers of human rights violations.
Venezuela's regime-loyal CNE electoral authority declared Maduro the election winner but the opposition cried foul.
Much of the international community has refused to accept the result.
Maduro's disputed win in the July 28 election is challenged not just by the opposition or historic geopolitical rivals such as the United States, but also by leftist allies of Venezuela such as Brazil and Colombia.
The latter have come up empty-handed in their efforts to help find a peaceful solution to the crisis.
Argentina has condemned the Venezuelan government and decried the lack of transparency of election results. Last week, it called on the International Criminal Court to seek Maduro’s arrest for human rights violations.
Inside the country, chatter abounds about what the opposition calls a stolen election – but people make their criticisms in whispers: no-one wants to join the more than 2,400 people who have been arrested since the vote, including children, with some even accused of "terrorism."
But for many Venezuelans, González Urrutia’s flight came as no surprise. He was under tremendous pressure, not just from a legal standpoint – he defied three summonses to appear in court – but also due to a rain of daily insults from Maduro, who called him "filthy," a coward and even a Nazi.
'Farcical theatre'
Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez Urrutia, who Maduro has said belongs behind bars, along with Machado. She remains in hiding, save for leading a handful of anti-Maduro protests since the disputed vote.
Venezuela's Vice-President Delcy Rodríguez said on social media that Caracas had agreed to the safe passage of González Urrutia, who had taken "refuge voluntarily at the Spanish embassy in Caracas a few days ago."
Attorney General Tarek William Saab told journalists González Urrutia's departure marked the close of a piece of "farcical theatre... fatefully named 'To the End,'" referring to the opposition's post-election fightback slogan.
He did not say whether the investigation against the opposition figure was now closed.
Saab had opened an investigation against González Urrutia for crimes related to his insistence that he was the rightful victor of the July poll.
Charges include usurpation of public functions, forgery of a public document, incitement to disobedience, sabotage and association with organised crime.
He risks a jail sentence of 30 years.
The charges stem from the opposition's decision to publish its own tally of polling station-level ballots cast, which it says showed Gonzalez Urrutia winning about two-thirds of votes.
Venezuela's electoral authority has said it cannot provide a breakdown of the election results, blaming a cyber attack on its systems.
Observers have said there is no evidence of such hacking.
Post-election violence in Venezuela has claimed 27 lives and left 192 people injured, while the government says it has arrested some 2,400 people.
After Venezuela's last election, in 2018, Maduro also claimed victory amid widespread accusations of fraud.
With the support of the military and other institutions, he managed to cling to power despite international sanctions.
Maduro's rule has seen GDP drop 80 percent in a decade, prompting more than seven million of the country's 30 million citizens to flee.
– TIMES/AFP
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