Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzlez granted political asylum in Spain

Former Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez arrived in Spain on Sunday after fleeing into exile in as part of a negotiated deal with Nicolas Maduro's government that dealt a major blow to millions who placed their hopes in his opposition campaign.

The surprise departure of the man considered by Venezuela's opposition and several foreign governments to be the legitimate winner of July's presidential race was announced late Saturday byVenezuelan officials who just a few days ago ordered his arrest.

Gonzalez landed Sunday at a military airport near Madrid, accompanied by his wife and Spanish officials, Spain's foreign ministry said.

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado tried to put a positive spin on his departure, assuring Venezuelans the 75-year-old retired diplomat would be back on Jan. 10 for a swearing-in ceremony marking the start of the next presidential term.

"His life was in danger, and the increasing threats, summons, arrest warrants and even attempts at blackmail and coercion to which he has been subjected, demonstrate that the regime has no scruples," Machado said on X.

"Let this be very clear to everyone: Edmundo will fight from outside alongside our diaspora."

But on the streets of Caracas on Sunday the mood was one of despair at the loss of someone who, against the odds, reignited a movement to end more than two decades of single-party rule.

"What little hope we had left, it went with him," said Laura Vargas, as she scrolled through the news on her cellphone while sitting on a park bench.

Gonzalez joins the swelling ranks of opposition stalwarts who once fought Maduro only to throw in the towel and seek asylum abroad in the face of a brutal crackdown. In Spain, he joins at least four former presidential hopefuls who were imprisoned or faced arrest for defying Maduro's rule.

Spain has been a major point of exodus for Venezuelans, particularly of those leading opposition to Maduro's regime. They include Leopoldo Lopez, who fled to Spain to reunite with his family in 2020, and Antonio Ledezma, who left in 2017.

Some 44,000 Venezuelans immigrated to Spain in the first six months of this year. The last government statistics from 2022 said that some 212,000 Venezuelans were then residing in Spain.

'Sad day for democracy in Venezuela'

Ever since the vote, he and Machado have been in hiding as security forces rounded up more than 2,000 people, many of them young Venezuelans who spontaneously took to the streets to protest Maduro's alleged theft of the election.

Venezuelan officials have yet to comment. Vice-President Delcy Rodriguez said in a statement late Saturday that the government decided to grant Gonzalez safe passage out of the country to help restore "the country's political peace and tranquillity."

Spain's centre-left government said the decision to leave Venezuela was Gonzalez's alone, and he departed on a plane sent by the country's air force. Gonzalez originally sought refuge in the Dutch ambassador's residence in Caracas, the Netherlands' government said Sunday, and later transferred to Spain's diplomatic mission as the terms of his exit were negotiated in secret.

Spanish Foreign Minister JosManuel Albares told national broadcaster RTVE that his government will grant Gonzlez political asylum as he has requested

"Of course I told him we were pleased that he is well and on his way to Spain, and I reiterated the commitment of our government to the political rights of all Venezuelans,"Albares said while en route to China for a state visit with Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez.

The European Union's foreign affairs chief, Josep Borrell, a former Spanish foreign minister, described Gonzalez's departure as "a sad day for democracy in Venezuela."

Referring to Gonzalez as the apparent winner of the presidential elections, Borrell in a statement said the "EU will maintain its support of the Venezuelan people in their democratic aspirations."

Contentious election results

Gonzlez was a last minute stand-in when Machado was banned from running. Previously unknown to most Venezuelans, his campaign nonetheless rapidly ignited the hopes of millions of Venezuelans desperate for change after a decade-long economic freefall.

While Maduro was declared the winner of the July vote, most Western governments have yet to recognize his victory and are instead demanding that authorities publish a breakdown of votes. Meanwhile, tally sheets collected by opposition volunteers from over two-thirds of the electronic voting machines indicate that Gonzlez won by a more than two-to-onemargin.

The tally sheets have long been considered the ultimate proof of election results in Venezuela. In previous presidential elections, the National Electoral Council published online the results of each of the more than 30,000 voting machines but the Maduro-controlled panel did not release any data this time, blaming an alleged cyberattack mounted by its opponents from North Macedonia.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab, a staunch Maduro ally, sought Gonzlez's arrest after he failed to appear three times in connection with a criminal investigation into what it considers an act of electoral sabotage.

Saab told reporters the voting records the opposition shared online were forged and an attempt to undermine the National Electoral Council.

Experts from the United Nations and the Carter Center, which at the invitation of Maduro's government observed the election, determined the results announced by electoral authorities lacked credibility.

In a statement critical of the election, the UNexperts stopped short of validating the opposition's claim to victory, but they said the voting records it published online appear to exhibit all of the original security features.