Madrid, Sep 12 (EFE).- Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González acknowledged on Thursday to Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez his interest in working for the restoration of democracy and respect for human rights in Venezuela, after being received by the head of the Spanish Executive.
“Dear compatriots, today I had a very pleasant and interesting conversation with the President of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, in Moncloa, whom I thanked for his willingness to receive me and my wife in Spain,” said the Venezuelan opposition leader, in a message addressed to his compatriots and to which Efe had access.
“At the same time, I expressed our appreciation for his interest in working for the restoration of democracy and respect for human rights in our country,” added González Urrutia, who attended the meeting with Sánchez accompanied by his daughter Carolina González.
“I also confirmed my determination to continue the fight to uphold the sovereign will of the Venezuelan people expressed on July 28 by more than 8 million voters,” said the Venezuelan opposition leader in the message released after the meeting with the Spanish president, which lasted for an hour.
“I warmly welcome Edmundo González to our country, whom we welcome by showing Spain’s humanitarian commitment and solidarity with Venezuelans,” wrote the President of the Government, accompanying some images in which he can be seen walking through the Moncloa gardens with González and his daughter.
Sánchez also assured him that “Spain continues to work in favour of democracy, dialogue and the fundamental rights of the brotherly people of Venezuela.”
The meeting took place a day after the Spanish Congress, at the suggestion of the conservative opposition and with the Socialists voting against, urged the government to recognise him as the winner of the last elections in his country.
In response, the president of the Venezuelan Parliament, the pro-government Jorge Rodríguez, called for the urgent approval of a resolution for the Bolivarian Government to break “immediately all relations” with Spain.
The Spanish government is not considering recognising the opposition’s victory on 28 July, as requested by Congress, and is referring to the common position of its European Union partners, who continue to demand the electoral records of the elections.
González Urrutia arrived in Madrid on Sunday on a Spanish Air Force plane to request political asylum after denouncing fraud in the presidential elections held in July in Venezuela.
In a statement released through his X network profile after arriving in Spain, González Urrutia “deeply” thanked the Spanish government for welcoming him, a gratitude that was reiterated by his daughter Carolina when reading a message from her father during a rally held on Wednesday in front of Congress, when the PP initiative to recognize the victory of the anti-Chavez leader was being debated. EFE
