Venezuela says presidential opposition candidate leaves country

The Venezuelan government said Saturday opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who disputed President Nicolas Maduro's July 28 reelection, has left the country to seek asylum in Spain.

Gonzalez Urrutia had been in hiding for a month, ignoring three successive summons to appear before prosecutors, saying attending the hearing could have cost his freedom.

"After taking refuge voluntarily at the Spanish embassy in Caracas a few days ago, (Gonzalez Urrutia) asked the Spanish government for political asylum," Venezuela's vice president said on social media, adding that Caracas had agreed to his safe passage.

Madrid's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on X that Gonzalez 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, declining to comment further.

Venezuela has been in political crisis since authorities declared Maduro the victor of the July 28 election.

The opposition cried foul, claiming it had evidence Gonzalez Urrutia had won by a comfortable margin.

Numerous nations, including the United States, European Union and several Latin American countries, have refused to recognize Maduro as the winner without Caracas releasing detailed voting data.

After the election, Venezuelan prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez Urrutia over his insistence that he was the rightful winner of the election.

Disputed election results

Lawyer Joel Garcia, who has defended opposition figures in Venezuela, said if Gonzalez Urrutia was charged with everything the...