CARACAS, VENEZUELA – JULY 30: Opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez. (Photo by Pedro Rances Martí/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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Venezuela’s former presidential opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has traveled to Spain following a disputed election in the South American country, Venezuelan and Spanish officials said late Saturday, after a day of heightened diplomatic tensions.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez posted on Instagram that Gonzalez, 75, who ran against President Nicolás Maduro in July, “volunteered to seek asylum at the Spanish Embassy in Caracas a few days ago ” and then left.
Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Alvarez posted on It said Madrid was responding to Gonzalez’s request.
Gonzalez’s withdrawal from Venezuela is the latest political development since the country’s July 28 elections.
Venezuela’s opposition said Gonzalez had achieved an overwhelming victory in the election and published the vote count online, saying it showed Gonzalez had won.
This week, prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez, charging him with usurpation of functions, falsification of public documents and conspiracy for posting the statistics online.
A man waves a Venezuelan flag as demonstrators clash with police during a protest against the government of President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, July 29, 2024, the day after Venezuela’s presidential election . Protests erupted in parts of Caracas on Monday against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro’s claim to have won re-election, disputed by the opposition and questioned by the international community, AFP journalists observed.
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Earlier on Saturday, Venezuela’s government revoked Brazil’s mandate to represent Argentina’s interests in the country, including managing the embassy where six opposition figures were sheltered.
Venezuela severed ties with Argentina after the presidential election. Like Colombia and Mexico, Brazil has asked the Venezuelan government to release the full results of the vote.
The government has yet to do so, and the country’s electoral body said Maduro won a third term.
Venezuela said in a statement that the decision was effective immediately because of evidence that the embassy was used to plan assassinations against Maduro and Rodriguez.
Brazil said it was “surprised” to receive notice of the revocation of the authorization. Argentina said it rejected the “unilateral” decision. The two countries urged Maduro to respect the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
“Any attempt to invade or abduct asylum seekers staying in our official residence will be severely condemned by the international community,” Argentina said in a statement. “Such actions reinforce the belief that under Maduro’s leadership In Venezuela, basic human rights are not respected.”
Brazilian diplomatic sources said on Saturday afternoon that Venezuela had assured Brazil that it would not invade its embassy.
Brazil insisted in a statement that it would continue to detain and defend Argentina’s interests until Argentina said Venezuela could accept another country doing so.
“The Brazilian government stresses in this context that the facilities of the Argentine diplomatic mission are inviolable, in accordance with the provisions of the Vienna Convention,” the statement read, adding that the mission houses six Venezuelan asylum seekers, assets and archives.
Reuters first reported news of the escalating dispute between the South American countries.
In March, prosecutors arrested six people on charges including conspiracy, after which they sought asylum at the Argentine embassy in Caracas. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado denied the accusations against her collaborators.
On Friday night, some opposition members at the Argentinian residence reported on their X accounts that the building was under surveillance and that there was no power. The video they released showed men in black and patrol officers from the government intelligence agency SEBIN.
Argentina’s foreign ministry on Friday asked the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants for Maduro and other senior government officials over post-election incidents.
