Former Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González has fled into exile after being granted asylum in Spain, delivering a major blow to millions who placed their hopes in his upstart campaign to end two decades of single-party rule.
ADVERTISEMENTThe European Union must take a "leading role" following the exile of Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González to Spain, argues Venezuelan journalist and opposition activist Carla Angola. González, who won the 28 July elections in Venezuela according to results presented by the opposition, has been granted asylum in Spain.
Venezuela has been embroiled in a deep political crisis since the presidential elections, with both incumbent Nicolás Maduro and the opposition candidate, Edmundo González, claiming victory.
Most Western governments have contested the results of July's election, which declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner. Opposition volunteers who have collected tally sheets from electronic voting machines indicate that González won the election.
Angola says she also wants "Europe to dive deeply into this, to punish those who have caused the president-elect to end up in exile, to be banished, and to no longer limit themselves to these excuses".
Spain has coordinated González's trip with Nicolás Maduro's government. But Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares says there have been no quid pro quos. "The question here that many are asking is whether there was a negotiation or not. That's the issue I'm not so clear on", says Angola, although she acknowledges that "the Spanish government insists that there were no negotiations or compensations involved in the granting of this asylum".
In Angola's view, González's exile benefits Maduro: "What I see is that Maduro saved himself the cost of imprisoning him, which is why he let him go so quickly, So that we Venezuelans would expect a democratic Venezuelan government in exile to be installed".
Angola calls on the European Parliament to stop seeing the situation as "a matter of internal Spanish politics." At the moment the European Union does not recognise either Maduro's or González's victory.
"We must rise above partisan differences, recognise the presidency of Edmundo González, and Europe must stop seeing Venezuela as a matter of ideology," she says. "It is not just about protecting him. It's about recognising González's presidency, pressing for the punishment of those who committed crimes against humanity and also the exile of an elected president. This has to be seen as a matter of urgency."
González now joins the list of Venezuelan political opponents exiled in Spain, which includes Leopoldo López and Antonio Ledezma.