Venezuelan Edmundo González Urrutia Explained His Decisions Monday on WhatsApp

The candidate of the largest opposition coalition in Venezuela, Edmundo González Urrutia, said on Monday on WhatsApp to his coalition, that he made the decision to leave his country and go into exile in Spain because the fate of Venezuelans “cannot, and should not be, one of conflict of pain and suffering.  My departure from Caracas was surrounded by episodes, pressure, coercion and threats of not allowing my departure.”  The Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) released Edmundo’s WhatsApp to the media.  In a statement released through his X network profile, González Urrutia said that his departure from Venezuela should be taken as “a gesture that reaches out to everyone” and that “as such it should be reciprocated.”  “I did this so that things would change and we could build a new era for Venezuela,” said the Venezuelan opposition leader. 

In his statement, González Urrutia calls for a “policy of dialogue” and asks that “only democracy and the realization of the popular will can be the path to our future as a country,” something to which he will remain “committed.”  Right now, he said, the freedom of political prisoners is his “great priority” and an “unwavering demand.”  The anti-Chavez activist arrived in Madrid on Sunday after requesting asylum, considering that he was suffering political and judicial persecution in Venezuela following the presidential elections of July 28, whose official victory was awarded by the National Electoral Council (CNE) to Nicolás Maduro, a result later validated by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ).  In his statement, González Urrutia “deeply” thanks the Spanish government for having welcomed him and gave him protection, as well as the Dutch embassy in Venezuela, where he had been sheltered for several weeks. The leader of the Spanish right, Alberto Núñez Feijóo (Popular Party) said that, if he were head of the Executive, Spain would have granted asylum to González Urrutia, but with the treatment of an elected president, and would have joined the International Criminal Court to request the arrest of Maduro.