Vice President Delcy Rodriguez announced this in a post on Instagram on Saturday. González left the country after “voluntarily seeking refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas a few days ago,” said Rodriguez. He had previously applied for political asylum from the Spanish government.
The Venezuelan government granted him safe passage in the interests of political peace. The opposition did not initially make any public statements on this. González will be flown to Spain on a Spanish Air Force plane at his own request, Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares announced on Platform X.
After the presidential election on July 28, the party-line electoral authority declared the authoritarian head of state Nicolás Maduro, 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 detailed results. The opposition accuses it of electoral fraud and claims victory for González. The 75-year-old became 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.
Election result questioned
The USA and several Latin American countries recognise González as the election winner. The European Union also doubts the official election result. The Venezuelan Attorney General’s Office issued an arrest warrant for González. He is accused of, among other things, usurpation of office, incitement to disregard the law, conspiracy and sabotage. González failed to respond to three summonses. The former diplomat’s whereabouts were recently unknown.
The election sparked protests that were violently suppressed by the state. According to the human rights organization Provea, 25 people were killed 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 stood behind Maduro.
