Spanish Congress asks the government to recognize González Urrutia as president of Venezuela

The Spanish Congress of Deputies, at the request of the right-wing opposition, adopted a proposal on Tuesday calling on the left-wing government to recognize the victory of opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia against Nicolás Maduro in the July elections in Venezuela.

The motion was adopted by 177 deputies to 164, and it is symbolic, because it does not oblige Pedro Sánchez’s Executive, which, in line with the European position, has until now demanded that the electoral records of the elections in which the opposition denounces fraud be made public but without recognizing González Urrutia, exiled in Spain since the weekend.

After the proposal was approved, right-wing deputies burst into applause in the chamber, where Venezuelan opposition figures were in the guest box, such as Antonio Ledezma, former mayor of Caracas, who expressed his gratitude for the measure taken by Congress, placing his hand over his heart.

Former Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma attends the government control session held this Wednesday in Congress – EFE/Javier Lizón

Presented by the main opposition party, the conservative Popular Party, the proposal calls for “recognizing Edmundo González Urrutia as the legitimate winner of the presidential elections” and “therefore, as the elected and legitimate president of Venezuela.”

In addition, calls on Sánchez’s government to “lead the recognition of Edmundo González in European institutions and international bodies”with the aim of ensuring that he takes office as the new president of Venezuela on January 10, 2025.”

The proposal began to be debated on Tuesday afternoon, when hundreds of supporters of the Venezuelan opposition demonstrated at the doors of Congress, chanting slogans against President Maduro and in favor of María Corina Machado, the opposition leader, who delegated the candidacy to Edmundo González after being disqualified by the authorities.

During the debate, MP Cayetana Álvarez de Toledo, from the PP, He said that the initiative serves “to boost the transition”and asked Sánchez to “work so that on January 10, Edmundo González Urrutia is sworn in and the one who leaves for exile is Nicolás Maduro.”

For her part, the socialist deputy Cristina Narbona recalled, on behalf of the government, the precedent of Juan Guaidó, “whom we recognized, and it was of no use.”

On Sunday, González Urrutia arrived in Madrid on a flight chartered by the Spanish government to receive political asylum. In a letter to Venezuelans on Monday, the 75-year-old former diplomat said he had made the decision to leave “thinking about Venezuela.”

“Our destiny as a country cannot, must not, be one of conflict and suffering,” he said.