Opposition leader Gonzalez flees Venezuela: Arrest warrant had been issued

The Spanish government has announced that opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who had an arrest warrant issued against him in Venezuela, has arrived in Spain.

In a written statement from the ministry, it was stated that Edmundo Gonzalez and his wife arrived at Torrejon de Ardoz with Diego Martinez Belio, the Undersecretary for Foreign Affairs in the Spanish government, and were met at the air base by Susana Sumelzo, the Secretary of State for Ibero-America and the Caribbean and for Spanish around the World.

The Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated that a Spanish Air Force military aircraft, which had traveled to the Venezuelan capital Caracas to collect Gonzalez and his family, landed at the Torrejon de Ardoz military air base in Madrid.

It was reported that the next stage for the Venezuelan opposition leader will be the commencement of the process for requesting political asylum in Spain.

The 75-year-old former diplomat Gonzalez, who ran as the candidate for the opposition coalition in the July 28 presidential election in Venezuela, had been accused of conspiracy, document forgery, and usurpation of authority, and an arrest warrant had been issued for him.

Gonzalez had accused the National Electoral Council (CNE), which declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner of the July 28 elections in Venezuela, of rigging the vote, and a criminal investigation was launched against him after he rejected the results.

An arrest warrant was issued for Gonzalez on the grounds of a "flight risk" after he was summoned to testify before the Public Prosecutor's Office three times on charges of "disobedience to the law" but did not attend, citing that his "safety was not guaranteed."

According to the results announced by the CNE on July 29, Maduro won the presidential election in Venezuela for the third time with 51.20 percent of the vote.

Opposition coalition candidate Gonzalez and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado had rejected the election results.

The Spanish government also announced that it would not recognize the announced election results until the records of the elections in Venezuela were published in a 'comprehensive and verifiable' manner, and stated that it would lead joint decisions to be taken against the Venezuelan administration within the European Union (EU).