Spain‘s foreign minister Jose Manuel Albares on Sunday announced that the country will “obviously” provide asylum to Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.
Gonzalez Urrutia left Venezuela on Saturday, traveling on a Spanish military aircraft after spending several days at Spain’s embassy in Caracas, where he sought refuge. This came after Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant for him, following his contestation of President Nicolás Maduro‘s re-election in July.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez confirmed Gonzalez’s departure in an Instagram post, noting that the opposition leader had sought asylum at the embassy in recent days after going unseen since the election.
Rodriguez further explained that the Maduro government, despite ordering his arrest, granted Gonzalez safe passage out of Venezuela to support the country’s political stability.
So far, neither Gonzalez nor members of Venezuela’s opposition have made any public statements.