Former Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia left the country after receiving political asylum in Spain, the Venezuelan government announced on Saturday night.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez confirmed the information through a message on her Instagram account, where she detailed that the safe conduct was granted necessary for their departure, in an agreement with the Spanish authorities.
“Today, September 7, opposition citizen Edmundo González Urrutia left the country. Having voluntarily sought refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas for several days, he requested political asylum from that government,” the statement said.
“Once the relevant contacts between both governments have taken place, the essentials of the case have been met and in compliance with international law, Venezuela has granted the necessary safe-conducts for the sake of the country’s tranquility and political peace,” the text adds.
Publication by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Spain
For his part, the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, also announced through the social network X that “Edmundo González, at his own request, is flying to Spain on a Spanish Air Force plane.”
“The Government of Spain is committed to the political rights and physical integrity of all Venezuelans,” he said.
González Urrutia met with Spanish diplomats on Saturday, according to the newspaper The Country of SpainSources cited by the newspaper said that former President José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero played a key role in the efforts to secure González’s departure from Venezuela.
The aforementioned media outlet reported that while the Venezuelan opposition leader was considering the Spanish government’s offer of asylum, a plane sent by Spain remained waiting in the Dominican Republic to immediately transfer him to Madrid.
Last Tuesday, Edmundo González’s lawyer, José Vicente Haro, stated that the former candidate had not requested political asylum nor sought refuge in any embassy in the country, citing the opposition’s relatives as a source.
“No asylum request has been made, nor has the possibility of being a guest in an embassy been raised,” Haro said at the time, adding that this option had not been considered by González Urrutia or his family.
Arrest warrant
Edmundo González Urrutia is facing a request from the Venezuelan courts for not having attended three summonses to the Prosecutor’s Office in the framework of an investigation. The politician is under suspicion of the crimes of usurpation of functions, forgery of public documents, instigation to disobedience of laws, sabotage to damage systems, association and conspiracy.
The Prosecutor’s Office had warned that, after the third absence, the “risk of flight” and “obstruction” would be considered, and so an arrest warrant would be processed against the former standard-bearer of the Democratic Unity Platform (PUD).
On August 7, a criminal investigation was launched against González and María Corina Machado, for being “responsible for the publication and maintenance” of a website with alleged election results, without any legal validity, where supposed voting “records” full of inconsistencies and irregularities were published.
