Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez leaves the country for Spain

Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez has left the country en route to Spain, according to his lawyer and Venezuela’s vice president, after an arrest warrant was issued last week accusing him of terrorism, conspiracy and other crimes related to July’s disputed presidential election.

“Today, September 7, opposition citizen Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who has been a voluntary refugee in the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in Caracas for several days, has left the country and requested political asylum from that government,” Vice President Delcy Rodriguez said in a statement.

Rodriguez said Venezuela allowed Gonzalez to leave “for the sake of the tranquility and political peace of the country.”

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said Gonzalez was “at his own request” flying to Spain on a Spanish Air Force plane. “The Government of Spain is committed to the political rights and physical integrity of all Venezuelans,” he wrote on X.

Gonzalez had previously ignored at least three summons to appear before prosecutors as part of an investigation into claims he secured a resounding win in the presidential election.

Authoritarian President Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner of the election with 51% of the vote by the country’s electoral authority – a body stacked with the president’s allies –- despite tens of thousands of election tallies published by the opposition that showed a convincing win for Gonzalez.

Venezuela’s opposition and multiple Latin American leaders refused to recognize Maduro’s victory, which sparked deadly protests during which thousands were arrested.

The United States recently placed pressure on the Venezuelan government to “immediately” release specific data regarding its presidential election, citing concerns about the credibility of Maduro’s claimed victory, as it also seized one of Maduro’s planes, saying it was bought in violation of US sanctions.