CARACAS: Opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia had no choice but to flee Venezuela for exile in Spain to save his own life amid a “brutal wave of repression” after disputed presidential elections, the leader of the opposition Maria Corina Machado said on Sunday.

Gonzalez Urrutia, who the opposition says it can prove won July 28 elections in which strongman Nicolas Maduro claimed a widely questioned victory, arrived in Spain on Sunday after a month in hiding in the crisis-hit South American country.

The choice for him to leave was made as “his life was in danger,” Machado said on X. Gonzalez Urrutia had replaced Machado on the ballot at the last minute after she herself was prevented from running by institutions loyal to Maduro.

Venezuela’s regime-loyal CNE electoral authority declared Maduro the winner of the July 28 elections, but the opposition cried foul and much of the international community refused to accept the result without seeing a detailed vote breakdown, which has not been forthcoming.

Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, who Maduro has said belongs behind bars along with Machado. She remains in hiding. Gonzalez Urrutia left Venezuela after ignoring three successive summons to appear before prosecutors, arguing that doing so risked his freedom.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2024