The disputed presidential elections in Venezuela continue to roil a nation where the vast majority of the population believes that the alleged winner, Nicolas Maduro, is not legitimate.
Now, the opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, has fled the country after Maduro’s government issued a warrant for his arrest. The elections took place on July 28, with the government controlled by Maduro claiming the socialist leader was re-elected. Maduro, handpicked by his socialist predecessor Hugo Chavez, is seen by the international community as a dictator who stole the elections. Despite pressure from internal and external watchdogs, the Venezuelan government has refused to release specific vote tallies and election records.
Citizens in the South American country have taken to the streets to riot in protest, and the Maduro government has responded with mass arrests.
A week ago, the Maduro government issued an arrest order for Gonazelez, who has not traveled to Spain seeking asylum as part of a deal hammered out with the Maduro government. The current alleged vice president, Delcy Rodriguez, said Venezuela let Gonzalez leave to restore “peace and tranquility.” He arrived in the country on September 9, accompanied by his wife.
The United States and many other countries recognize Gonzalez as the legitimate winner of the presidential election.
On arriving in Spain, Gonzalez told supporters he left his country because of “pressure, coercion, and threats.” He said he hoped that the fight for the “restoration of Venezuela’s democracy” would resume soon.
Mara Corina Machado, the more famous opposition leader who would have run if the Maduro government had not banned her from doing so, said Gonzalez would be the one sworn in in January, 2025. Gonzalez had retired from diplomatic work and did not have any real political aims, but was selected to stand in for Machado since she could not run for office. She said Gonzalez’s life was in danger, and he was fleeing “blackmail and coercion.” The Maduro government has “no scruples,” she wrote on Facebook, but that she and Gonzalez and “the diaspora” would continue to fight.
