Venezuela opposition leader Gonzalez lands in Spain seeking asylum
Gonzalez sought refuge in Dutch, Spanish embassies
Left Venezuela amid crisis over disputed election result
'A sad day for democracy,' says EU's Borrell
Maduro says he won vote, sees plot against his government
Adds Spanish Foreign Minister quotes, paragraphs 13-14
By Ana Cantero and Vivian Sequera
MADRID/CARACAS, Sept 8 (Reuters) -Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez flew into Spain on Sunday to seek asylum, Madrid said, hours after quitting his country amid a political and diplomatic crisis over July's disputed election.
Gonzalez - who has challenged President Nicolas Maduro's declaration of victory - arrived at the Torrejon de Ardoz military base with his wife, Spain's foreign ministry said in a statement.
The exit of the 75-year-old - seen by the U.S., the EU and other powers in the region as the winner of the vote - came a week after Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant for him, accusing him of conspiracy and other crimes.
"Today is a sad day for democracy in Venezuela," European Union foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said in a statement. "In a democracy, no political leader should be forced to seek asylum in another country."
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said on Instagram authorities had given Gonzalez safe passage in a bid to restore "political peace". Spain's foreign ministry said there had been no official talks with the Venezuelan government on Gonzalez's exit.
Venezuela's opposition say the July 28 election resulted in a resounding victory for Gonzalez, and published vote tallies online that they say show he won.
Maduro has dismissed all such assertions and says there was a right-wing plot to sabotage his government.
Gonzalez's move to Spain marked another jolting shift in the fortunes of the former diplomat who came out of retirement and took over the candidacy in March, initially as a placeholder after opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and then another replacement could not stand.
Machado confirmed on X that Gonzalez was now in Spain, adding he had fled to protect his "freedom, his integrity and his life".
"The increasing threats, summons, arrest warrants and even the attempts at blackmail and coercion to which he has been subjected show that the regime has no scruples or limits in its obsession to silence him and try to break him," she wrote.
Gonzalez would continue to fight for the opposition from Spain, while she would continue to do so within Venezuela, Machado said, and vowed that he would be sworn in on Jan. 10, 2025, when the next presidential term begins.
EMBASSIES, TALKS
Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares told Spanish TV he had told Gonzalez "any person whose physical integrity or fundamental rights may be endangered would be welcomed in Spain and its embassy."
He added that his relocation to Spain had been planned for days and the foreign ministry said Gonzalez's asylum process would now start.
Gonzalez had sought refuge in the Dutch and then the Spanish embassy in Venezuela after the election, Dutch and Venezuelan officials said.
Dutch Foreign Minister Caspar Veldkamp said in a letter to his parliament on Sunday that Gonzalez had urgently requested refuge in the Dutch embassy the day after the election.
"At the beginning of September, Edmundo Gonzalez indicated that he ... wanted to leave and continue his fight from Spain", Veldkamp added.
Spanish officials, including former Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, linked to diplomatic relations in the South American country in the past, were involved in a week of negotiations with Venezuelan authorities for Gonzalez to leave the country, a source with knowledge of the talks told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
OPPOSITION PRESSES FOR MORE PROTESTS
That Maduro allowed Gonzalez's departure despite the arrest warrant he was facing may soften some harsh recent international criticism of him.
Machado, though, remains subject of an investigation and has largely been sequestered at an unknown location since the vote, emerging only occasionally to lead rallies. Gonzalez's departure came less than 24 hours after security forces surrounded Argentina's former embassy in Caracas, now being protected by Brazil, where six opposition staffers have been sheltering since warrants were issued for them in March.
Attorney General Tarek Saab, who met with Gonzalez's lawyer this week and who has been one of the opposition's most strident accusers, is set to hold a press conference later on Sunday.
The opposition is pressing for more street protests and international pressure for its victory to be recognized, but so far those tactics have borne no fruit, with military leaders lining up behind Maduro, and no stepped-up sanctions or other international action since the vote amid waning attendance at anti-government rallies.
Reporting by Belen Carreno, Ana Cantero and Corina Pons in Madrid, Vivian Sequera in Caracas, Anthony Deutsch in Amsterdam, and Julia Symes in Bogota; Editing by Aislinn Laing, Alexandra Hudson and Ros Russell
免責聲明: XM Group提供線上交易平台的登入和執行服務,允許個人查看和/或使用網站所提供的內容,但不進行任何更改或擴展其服務和訪問權限,並受以下條款與條例約束:(i)條款與條例;(ii)風險提示;(iii)完全免責聲明。網站內部所提供的所有資訊,僅限於一般資訊用途。請注意,我們所有的線上交易平台內容並不構成,也不被視為進入金融市場交易的邀約或邀請 。金融市場交易會對您的投資帶來重大風險。
所有缐上交易平台所發佈的資料,僅適用於教育/資訊類用途,不包含也不應被視爲適用於金融、投資稅或交易相關諮詢和建議,或是交易價格紀錄,或是任何金融商品或非應邀途徑的金融相關優惠的交易邀約或邀請。
本網站的所有XM和第三方所提供的内容,包括意見、新聞、研究、分析、價格其他資訊和第三方網站鏈接,皆爲‘按原狀’,並作爲一般市場評論所提供,而非投資建議。請理解和接受,所有被歸類為投資研究範圍的相關内容,並非爲了促進投資研究獨立性,而根據法律要求所編寫,而是被視爲符合營銷傳播相關法律與法規所編寫的内容。請確保您已詳讀並完全理解我們的非獨立投資研究提示和風險提示資訊,相關詳情請點擊 這裡查看。