It was a surprise departure of the man considered by Venezuela’s opposition and some governments to be the legitimate winner of July’s presidential race.
FILE - Venezuela n opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez waves to supporters during a political event at a square in the Hatillo municipality of Caracas, Venezuela , June 19, 2024.
Spain's center-left government said the decision to leave Venezuela was González's alone, and he departed on a plane sent by the country's air force. González stayed at the Spanish embassy in Caracas before leaving. In a speech before González's departure was announced, Sánchez said the opposition leader was "a hero whom Spain is not going to abandon."
In a letter sent Sunday to lawmakers, Dutch Foreign Affairs Minister Caspar Veldkamp said that the Netherlands had given González refuge shortly after the election at its embassy. He added that González said at the beginning of September that he wanted to leave the country "and continue his fight from Spain."
The tally sheets have long been considered the ultimate proof of election results in Venezuela. In previous presidential elections, the National Electoral Council published online the results of each of the more than 30,000 voting machines but the Maduro-controlled panel did not release any data this time, blaming an alleged cyberattack mounted by its opponents from North Macedonia.
Experts from the United Nations and the Carter Center, which at the invitation of Maduro's government observed the election, determined the results announced by electoral authorities lacked credibility. In a statement critical of the election, the U.N. experts stopped short of validating the opposition's claim to victory, but they said the voting records it published online appear to exhibit all of the original security features.
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