Opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who is challenging Nicolás Maduro's re-election on 28 July, has left the country and sought asylum in Spain, the Venezuelan government said.
González Urrutia had been in hiding for a month, ignoring three successive summonses to appear before prosecutors, saying that attending the hearing could cost him his freedom.
"After voluntarily taking refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas a few days ago, (González Urrutia) has requested political asylum from the Spanish government," Venezuela's vice president wrote on social media, adding that Caracas had agreed to his safe passage.
Madrid's foreign minister, Jose Manuel Albarez, said in X that González Urrutia "at his request" had departed on a Spanish military plane, adding that Spain was "committed to the political rights" of all Venezuelans.
Gonzalez Urrutia's lawyer Jose Vicente Haro also confirmed to AFP that the opposition candidate had left for Spain, and declined to comment further.
Venezuela has been in political crisis since the authorities declared Maduro the winner of the 28 July elections.
The opposition opposed it, saying it had evidence that González Urrutia had won by a wide margin.
A number of countries, including the United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries, have refused to recognise Maduro as the winner without Caracas providing details of the vote.
After the election, Venezuelan prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for González Urrutia for insisting that he was the legitimate winner of the election. | BGNES
