Spain did not negotiate Gonzalez’s exit and asks Maduro for the minutes

The government of Spain on Monday rejected negotiations with Caracas for the departure of opposition leader and former presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who has been in exile since Sunday in Madrid, insisted on demanding that Nicolás Maduro publish the electoral records.

González Urrutia, who according to government sources will be received in the coming days by the Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, was a candidate in the elections last July and left Caracas pursued by the justice system after denouncing fraud in the victory that the government attributes to Maduro.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said on Monday that González will be granted asylum in Spain, as requested by the opposition leader himself, and assured that Spain has not accepted “any demands nor has there been any negotiation” with the Venezuelan government to facilitate his departure from the country.

The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, also categorically denied any type of negotiation on Monday and referred to “purely technical issues” for the flight authorizations of the Spanish Air Force plane that took the Venezuelan opposition leader to Madrid on Sunday.

“What the Venezuelan government is doing to González and many other opponents is unacceptable, unacceptable, all kinds of persecution, limitation of fundamental rights. As it could not be otherwise, Spain has agreed to grant him political asylum,” denounced Robles.

The minister insisted that the reception of González Urrutia does not mean a change in Spain’s position.

“Let there be no doubt that the Spanish government has not recognized Maduro’s government and that is what must be put on the table and taken into account: We are asking for the records and we will always act by giving all kinds of protection and shelter to the Venezuelan citizens who are suffering persecution,” he said.

Edmundo González, another Venezuelan opposition member in Spain

Edmundo González has joined the list of Venezuelan politicians who are in Spain, which includes, among others, Leopoldo López and Antonio Ledezma.

Leopoldo López arrived in Madrid in 2022, after leaving the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas, where he had been a guest since April 30, 2019, after participating in a failed military uprising alongside the then president of the Venezuelan Parliament, Juan Guaidó.

Also living in Madrid is Antonio Ledezma, former metropolitan mayor of Caracas, who was imprisoned and later held at home on charges of conspiracy by the government of Nicolás Maduro.

Former Venezuelan Parliament President Julio Borges, winner of the 2017 Sakharov Prize, also lives in Spain. He participated as a spokesperson in the negotiation process between the government and the opposition.

In total, more than 390,000 Venezuelans reside in Spain and the number is increasing with an average of 241 arrivals per day.

In 2024 (until August 31) 42,000 Venezuelans have requested international protection in Spain; With 37.5% of requests, it is the nationality that registers the most requests of this type, according to data from the Ministry of the Interior.

The vast majority end up with a temporary residence permit for humanitarian reasons, a status that the government has granted since at least 2019 to Venezuelans who do not fit the refugee or asylum status.