Costa Rica regrets the persecution against Edmundo González

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Costa Rica regretted this Sunday that the “political persecution” by the Venezuelan regime forced opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia to resort to exile.

“Costa Rica regrets that political persecution, as part of attempts to legitimize electoral fraud by Nicolás Maduro, has forced Edmundo González Urrutia – the candidate who received the vast majority of the votes of the Venezuelan people in the elections of July 28, 2024 – to resort to exile,” the ministry said in a statement sent to the media.

González Urrutia, 75 years old and candidate of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), the main anti-Chavez group, in the presidential elections last July, arrived in Madrid on Sunday on a Spanish Air Force plane with his wife and authorities from that country.

“The threats to his life and freedom by the Venezuelan authorities are nothing more than a continuation of the multiple violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms that Venezuelans constantly and systematically suffer,” the Foreign Ministry’s statement said.

The Costa Rican government also indicated that the people of Venezuela “deserves the return to democracy, freedom and the rule of law that it so desires and that was expressed by its citizens at the polls when they voted massively for Edmundo González” and added that the country will remain “committed to defending the rights of the brotherly Venezuelan people.”

Venezuela’s executive vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, had reported on Saturday that the opposition politician left the country with a safe-conduct pass granted “for the sake of political peace and tranquility,” after spending “several days voluntarily seeking refuge” in the Spanish embassy.

This Saturday, Costa Rica also “deplored the decision of the Venezuelan regime” to “unilaterally” revoke the authorization granted to Brazil to represent Argentina’s interests in Venezuela, where six Venezuelan opponents are seeking asylum.