Venezuelan opposition chief Edmundo Gonzalez has fled to Spain, looking for political asylum amid turmoil in his nation after a disputed presidential election.
The opposition presidential candidate arrived on the Torrejon de Ardoz navy base within the Spanish capital, Madrid, along with his spouse on Sunday, in response to a press release by Spain’s Ministry of Overseas Affairs.
Gonzalez, who has accused President Nicolas Maduro of election fraud, fled the nation after an arrest warrant was issued final week as a part of an intensified authorities crackdown on the opposition.
Right here is what’s going on in Venezuela and what’s subsequent:
What occurred in Venezuela?
The Nationwide Electoral Council stated Maduro received re-election with 51 percent of the vote – his third win since he first took over as president in 2013 after the dying of his mentor and charismatic President Hugo Chavez. The United Socialist Celebration has been in energy for the previous 25 years.
However the opposition stated the outcomes of the July 28 election had been rigged. It stated its volunteers obtained 73 p.c of the tally sheets issued by digital voting machines they usually confirmed Gonzalez was the actual winner of the election. Maduro received 30 p.c of the vote, it stated.
Protests erupted, demanding the discharge of election results by particular person polling stations.
Maduro’s authorities has as a substitute cracked down on the opposition protesters and leaders, forcing many to take refuge in overseas embassies. At the very least 24 folks have been killed and about 2,400 folks arrested in relation to the protests, in response to Human Rights Watch.
Venezuelan safety forces presently are encircling the Argentinian embassy in Caracas as six opposition leaders search asylum inside.
Gonzalez was in hiding for a month, looking for refuge within the Dutch embassy within the Venezuelan capital, adopted by the Spanish embassy.
Who’s Edmundo Gonzalez?
Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, a retired diplomat, was thrust into the political highlight when the opposition Unitary Platform selected him to problem Maduro after the primary opposition candidate, Maria Corina Machado, was barred from working. He’s not affiliated with any get together.
Gonzalez had served in diplomatic positions in El Salvador, the USA and Belgium earlier than being appointed as Venezuela’s ambassador to Algeria in 1991.
Why did Gonzalez search asylum in Spain?
Gonzalez left for Spain out of considerations for his security after he was charged with incitement to sedition and a warrant was issued for his arrest.
“His life was at risk, and the rising threats, summons, arrest warrants and even makes an attempt at blackmail and coercion to which he has been subjected display that the regime has no scruples and no limits in its obsession with silencing him and attempting to subdue him,” Machado wrote in an X put up on Sunday.
Gonzalez himself echoed this in an audio recording launched by the opposition on Sunday through which he stated: “My departure from Caracas was surrounded by episodes of stress, coercion and threats of not permitting my departure.”
Might he lead in exile?
It seems that Gonzalez will proceed to be a pacesetter within the opposition in exile, at the least for now.
“Edmundo will battle from outdoors alongside our diaspora and I’ll proceed to take action right here, alongside you,” Machado wrote in her Sunday X put up.
Carlos Pina, a Venezuelan political scientist, informed Al Jazeera that Gonzalez, even overseas, will be “a megaphone for the opposition’s calls for, so I imagine the battle can proceed”.
What’s subsequent for the opposition in Venezuela?
“With the exile of Gonzalez, a brand new stage within the postelectoral battle of the opposition begins. That’s clear,” Pina stated.
Gonzalez leaving, “from a political standpoint, may have a price for the opposition within the sense that their major chief is, to place it crudely, abandoning the ship,” Pina stated.
It’s important for Machado to remain in Venezuela, he added, explaining that it is because whereas Machado and Gonzalez have help from many among the many Venezuelan public, there’s no assure that backing will final until the opposition retains its marketing campaign energetic.
Pina stated the opposition “should attempt to redefine its methods, preserve the mobilisation alive, preserve the political battle and the stress for the federal government to point out the electoral data”.
Unitary Platform contains 10 events, starting from centre left to centre proper.
What’s the authorities saying?
Venezuela’s authorities stated it has allowed Gonzalez to depart for “political peace” within the nation. It has not offered any additional details about why Gonzalez was allowed to depart.
Legal professional Normal Tarek William Saab claimed on Sunday that Gonzalez’s departure from Venezuela is a results of stress from Machado’s get together.
Saab informed CNN that Gonzalez was “pressured to make selections” by the opposition coalition. “There’s an absolute fracture in that extremist opposition,” he stated.
Is Maduro more and more remoted within the area?
Help for Maduro in South America appears to have dwindled, Vanessa Neumann, a former Venezuelan ambassador to the UK, informed Al Jazeera.
“It’s very fascinating that the Spanish president put him [Gonzalez] on a airplane and granted him asylum,” she stated, stating that Spain has a leftist authorities.
Neumann added that Maduro can be having a dispute with Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, “certainly one of his finest mates”, after Venezuela on Saturday revoked Brazil’s authorisation to handle and symbolize the Argentinian embassy. Earlier, Maduro had expelled Argentinian diplomatic personnel from Venezuela after the Argentinian authorities questioned the election outcomes.
“For those who’re legitimately elected, standing beside a repressive dictator who imprisons the opposition and received’t publish the outcomes of the election just isn’t an excellent look. I feel it’s beginning to fracture the left [in the region],” Neumann stated.
Pina agreed, saying, “I feel speaking in regards to the Latin American left as if it had been a single entity could be very troublesome in the mean time.”
The leftist governments of Chile, Brazil and Colombia have known as on Maduro to publish the election outcomes, however Cuba and Nicaragua, staunch opponents of the USA within the area, have thrown their weight behind Maduro.
Officers from Cuba, Honduras and Bolivia congratulated Maduro on social media after the election. “The folks spoke and the Revolution received,” Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel wrote on X.
On August 26, Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega supplied to ship “Sandinista fighters” in help of Maduro in case Maduro needed to mobilise armed “counterrevolutionary” forces.
Venezuela has additionally acquired strong help from China and Russia. Each Moscow and Beijing congratulated Maduro on his election victory.
What are the reactions to Gonzalez leaving Venezuela?
The US and European Union don’t recognise Maduro’s win and as a substitute maintain the assumption that Gonzalez is the true winner.
- EU overseas coverage chief Josep Borrell stated in a press release: “In a democracy, no political chief needs to be pressured to hunt asylum abroad.”
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken known as Gonzalez the final hope for democracy in an X put up. “We should not let Maduro and his representatives cling to energy by power.”
- The Group of American States, a regional organisation aligned with the US, stated on Sunday that Gonzalez was pressured into exile.
- Spanish Overseas Minister Jose Manuel Albares informed Spanish media that he informed Gonzalez he’s happy the Venezuelan opposition chief is arriving and “I reiterated the dedication of our authorities to the political rights of all Venezuelans.”
