Venezuela's former presidential opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has fled the country and is seeking refuge in Spain. Gonzalez's exit from Venezuela comes days after President Nicolas Maduro issued an arrest warrant for the opposition candidate.
In light of Venezuela's disputed elections held in July, tensions in the Latin American country have been high and have boiled over to an extent where Caracas has cut off diplomatic ties with other Latin American countries.
On Saturday, the 75-year-old left Venezuela and filed an asylum request with Spain. As per Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez, Gonzalez, left after "voluntarily seeking refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas several days ago."
Venezuela Tensions: Opposition Candidate Flees Country
The Venezuelan Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares confirmed on X that the opposition candidate had left Venezuela on Sunday on a Spanish Air Force plane.
Tensions continue to remain high in Venezuela after the disputed election results paved a third term for Nicolas Maduro.
Despite Venezuelans, the opposition and countries such as the US, EU and neighbouring Latin American countries criticising the results, the election body and Venezuela's top court confirmed that Maduro won the vote.
Gonzalez and the opposition claimed that the their victory was stolen from then as they published tallies online alleging the Gonzalez had won the presidential vote.
However, shortly after this, an arrest warrant was issued for Gonzales in connection to the public of the online tallies of votes. Furthermore, the opposition candidate was also accused of committing "crimes associated with terrorism".
Venezuela Tensions: Diplomatic Rows On The Rise
Ahead of Gonzalez fleeing the country, diplomatic tensions between Venezuela and Brazil also escalated. The Maduro government revoked Brazil's authority to represent its interests in Argentina.
As per the official statement issued by the Venezuelan government, the administration was revoked based on proof that the embassy was used to plan the assassination of Maduro and his vice president Rodriquez.
Brazil has also confirmed the Venezuela's call but stated that it received the decision as a "surprise". Argentina, on the other hand, has rejected this "unilateral" decision. In view of this revoking, Brazil and Argentina have urged the Venezuelan government to respect the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.
Following the disputed results and the pressure on the Maduro government to publish the complete tally of the vote, Venezuela cut ties with seven nations, namely, Argentina, Chile, Costa Rica, Peru, Panama, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay.
Citing "interventionist acts" from these countries, all diplomatic presence and staff was recalled to Caracas.
