(ANSA) – ROME, 08 SEPTEMBER – Spain will grant political asylum to the opposition presidential candidate in Venezuela, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia: the Spanish Foreign Minister, José Manuel Albares, announced, writes La Vanguardia. The head of Spanish diplomacy explained that Urrutia has requested the right to asylum, which “naturally”, he stressed, “the Spanish government will draft and grant”. The politician, who had taken refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas, left the Venezuelan capital yesterday evening, local time, for Madrid. The former opposition candidate left the country accompanied by his wife Mercedes. In the meantime, González Urrutia’s lawyer confirmed that the diplomat “went to Spain”, adding that he could not provide further details. González Urrutia has denounced fraud in the July 28 elections, which gave a disputed victory to the incumbent president, Nicolas Maduro, with 52% of the vote, without providing any evidence. The opposition, led by former liberal deputy María Corina Machado, claims that González Urrutia obtained more than 60% of the vote, with evidence collected on a website that digitized the counting registers collected by witnesses at polling stations. The ruling Chavismo, for its part, claims that the material is fraudulent and full of inconsistencies. González, 75, had an arrest warrant pending for several crimes, including “incitement to disobedience” and “conspiracy”, related to the protests that took place after the elections. The former presidential candidate had been called to testify three times, without appearing at any of them, and had taken refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas. (HANDLE).
2024-09-08 21:24:55