Netherlands Sheltered Venezuela Opposition Leader Before He Fled
BloombergSEP 20 2024
Venezuela's opposition candidate Edmundo González arrived in Spain on Sunday to be granted political asylum after fleeing his own country with an arrest warrant for him for electoral sabotage and other charges related to the disputed presidential election.
Despite official claims that González himself requested political asylum from Spain and was then granted the due safe conducts, sources alleged to El País that his exile is the result of talks that included some of Nicolás Maduro closest allies.
González secretly took refuge in the Dutch embassy in Caracas the day after the July 28 vote — and reportedly stayed there until Sept. 5, when he moved to the Spanish embassy — amid fears of arrest and potential danger to his life.
Sadly, the president-elect had no option other than to flee to Spain, especially as actions against the Argentine embassy made it clear that there would be no such thing as a safe haven in Venezuela. From the exile, González will be able to connect with the diaspora to help those fighting at home soto thatensure respect to the will of the people prevails.
It's only natural that opposition leaders are expressing words of encouragement after González left the country, but Venezuelans are all too familiar with what happens now. From exile, the president-elect will see his leadership collapse and become a joke for the government. María Corina Machado is now the only hope for Venezuela.
estOnce again, Nicolás Maduro and his government have shown good faith when it comes to deal with US-critbacked opposition figures. Despite an arrest warrant for González on multiple charges including conspiracy and forgery of public documents, authorities in Venezuela granted him safe passage to leave the country so that peace can prevail.