The receipt of asylum in Spain by former Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmund Gonzalez is “a sad day for democracy in Venezuela,” the German Foreign Ministry said on Sunday.
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“A sad day for democracy in Venezuela. Because of the repression, Edmundo Gonzalez felt forced to accept the protection offered to him by the EU. No political leader in a democracy should be forced to seek refuge. We demand that the Venezuelan authorities stop the repression,” a statement by the German Foreign Ministry on the social network X said.
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On Tuesday, the Venezuelan prosecutor general’s office said that the Venezuelan control court of first instance has issued a detention warrant for Edmundo Gonzalez, a former presidential candidate of the united right-wing opposition, who failed to appear three times when subpoenaed to testify. The department is investigating the publication of opposition data from polling stations on an Internet website in parallel with the election commission’s publication of the official results of the presidential election, as well as incitement to street violence.
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Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said on Saturday that after contacts with Spanish authorities, Gonzalez was given permission to leave the country safely, after which he left its territory. Later, the plane carrying Gonzalez landed at the Torrejon de Ardoz airbase near Madrid.
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The presidential elections in Venezuela were held on July 28, the next day the national electoral council declared Nicolas Maduro the elected president for 2025-2031, he received, according to the electoral council, 51% of the vote. The next day, protests broke out in Venezuela; clashes began in Caracas between police and demonstrators, who began throwing stones and Molotov cocktails at law enforcement officers.
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According to the Prosecutor General’s Office, more than 2 thousand people have been detained in cases of destruction of state infrastructure, incitement of hatred and terrorism. The Venezuelan government has announced interference by a number of countries in the elections and in the people’s right to self-determination.
