Caracas:

Venezuela’s former presidential opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has left for Spain in the wake of the South American country’s contested election, Venezuelan and Spanish officials said on Saturday night after a day of rising diplomatic tensions.

Gonzalez, 75, who ran against President Nicolas Maduro in July, left after “voluntarily seeking refuge in the Spanish embassy in Caracas several days ago,” Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez posted on Instagram.

“Edmundo Gonzalez has taken off from Caracas heading to Spain on a Spanish Air Force plane,” Spain’s Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares posted on X, saying Madrid was responding to a request from Gonzalez.

Gonzalez’s exit from Venezuela is the latest political development since the country’s election on July 28. Democracies around the world have criticized the Venezuelan government’s handling of the vote, which election officials and its top court say was won by Maduro.

Venezuela’s opposition say the election resulted in a resounding victory for Gonzalez, and published vote tallies online that they say show he won.

This week prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez in connection to the online publication of the tallies, accusing him of usurping functions, falsifying public documents and conspiracy, among other charges.

Earlier on Saturday, Venezuela’s government revoked Brazil’s authorization to represent Argentine interests in the country, including administering the embassy where six opposition figures are sheltering.

Venezuela broke relations with Argentina after the presidential election. Brazil, like Colombia and Mexico, has asked the Venezuelan government to publish the full results of the vote.

The government has not done so and the country’s electoral authority said Maduro won re-election for a third term.

In a statement, Venezuela said the decision, effective immediately, was due to proof that the embassy was being used to plan assassination attempts against Maduro and Rodriguez.

Brazil said it had received the communication that its authorization had been revoked “with surprise.” Argentina said it rejected the “unilateral” decision. Both countries urged Maduro to respect the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

“Any attempt to invade or kidnap asylum seekers who remain in our official residence will be harshly condemned by the international community,” Argentina said in a statement. “Actions like these reinforce the conviction that in Maduro’s Venezuela, fundamental human rights are not respected.”

A Brazilian diplomatic source said on Saturday afternoon that Venezuela had assured Brazil it would not invade the embassy.

In its statement, Brazil insisted it would remain in custody and defense of Argentine interests until Argentina indicated another state acceptable to Venezuela to do so.

“The Brazilian government highlights in this context, under the terms of the Vienna Conventions, the inviolability of the facilities of the Argentine diplomatic mission,” it said, adding that it housed six Venezuelan asylum seekers, assets and archives.

The escalation in the spat between the South American countries was first reported by Reuters.

In March, six people sought asylum in the Argentine embassy in Caracas after a prosecutor ordered their arrest on charges including conspiracy. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has denied the allegations against her collaborators.

On Friday night, some opposition members in the Argentine residence reported on their X accounts that the building was under surveillance and had no electricity. They posted videos showing men dressed in black and patrols from the government intelligence agency, SEBIN.

Argentina’s Foreign Ministry asked the International Criminal Court on Friday to issue an arrest warrant against Maduro and other senior government officials for events that occurred after the elections.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Since the election, security forces have arrested more than 2,000 people for demonstrating against Mr. Maduro or casting doubt on his claims that he won a third term. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

A panel of experts from the United Nations said Venezuela’s recent presidential elections lacked “basic transparency and integrity,” adding an important voice to those who have cast doubt on President Nicolás Maduro’s claim he won the contest.

A four-member team sent by U.N. Secretary General António Guterres was in Caracas for over a month in the run-up to the July 28 election, one of the few independent outside observers invited by Mr. Maduro’s government.

While the U.N. group praised the logistic organisation of the voting, it harshly criticised the National Electoral Council, or CNE, for flouting local rules and announcing Mr. Maduro the winner without tabulated results from each of the 30,000 polling booths nationwide, something it said, “had no precedent in contemporary democratic elections.”

“This had a negative impact on confidence in the outcome announced by the CNE among a large part of the Venezuelan electorate,” the U.N. experts said in a statement late Tuesday (August 13, 2024).

The U.N. statement follows criticism by another invited observer, the Atlanta-based Carter Center, which said it could not verify the CNE’s results. Venezuela’s foreign minister has blasted the Carter Center, accusing it of lying and servings as a tool of U.S. “imperialism.”

While the U.N. team stopped short of validating claims by the opposition that its candidate, former diplomat Edmundo González, trounced Mr. Maduro by a more than 2-to-1 margin, it said that the voting records the anti-Maduro coalition published online appeared to exhibit all of the original security features.

“This suggests a key transparency safeguard may be available, as intended, with respect to any officially released results,” the experts added, noting that electoral authorities failed to meet with the group prior to the mission’s departure from Venezuela five days after voting.

Since the election, security forces have arrested more than 2,000 people for demonstrating against Mr. Maduro or casting doubt on his claims that he won a third term.

Separately on Tuesday (August 13, 2024), the U.N.’s top human rights official expressed concern over the arbitrary detentions and “disproportionate use of force” in Venezuela as part of the crackdown.

Also Read: Venezuela’s Opposition leader Machado calls for worldwide protests for election ‘truth’

“It is especially troubling that so many people are being detained, accused or charged either with incitement to hatred or under counterterrorism legislation,” U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said in a statement. “Criminal law must never be used to limit unduly the rights to freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association.”

Mr. Türk’s comments come as Venezuela’s opposition gears up for a demonstration on Saturday (August 17, 2024) that it hopes will increase pressure on Mr. Maduro to recognise defeat and negotiate a political transition.

“If Maduro makes a realistic evaluation of his options, he’ll understand that digging in is not sustainable,” opposition leader María Corina Machado told journalists Tuesday (August 13, 2024).

Ms. Machado, who anointed previously unknown retired diplomat Edmundo González as her stand-in once she was banned from running in the presidential campaign, spoke to journalists at a virtual press conference from an undisclosed location due to safety concerns.

In her comments, she tried to temper expectations for a quick resolution of the political crisis.

“Nobody knows how long it will take, but without a doubt, there are painful days that await us,” Ms. Machado said.

The U.N. human rights office said that in most of the cases it has documented, detainees haven’t been allowed to appoint lawyers of their choice or have contact with their families. “Some of these cases would amount to enforced disappearances,” it said.

Mr. Türk called for “the immediate release of everyone who has been arbitrarily detained and for fair trial guarantees for all detainees.” He added that “the disproportionate use of force by law enforcement officials and the attacks on demonstrators by armed individuals supporting the government, some resulting in deaths, must not be repeated.”

Mr. Türk also noted there have been reports of violence against public officials and public buildings by some demonstrators and said violence is never the answer.

On Monday ((August 12, 2024)), International Criminal Court prosecutors said they are “actively monitoring” events in Venezuela.