BEIJING/MADRID, Sept 11 (Askume) – The government led by Spain’s Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez will not rely on a parliamentary vote to recognise Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as a candidate for the election, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said.
Gonzalez has been seeking asylum in Spain since Sunday, with a majority of main opposition lawmakers in the lower house set to pass a symbolic resolution on Wednesday recognising his July 28 attack on current President Nicolas Maduro.
Venezuela’s opposition released the vote count and said Gonzalez, 75, had won by a landslide. But the national election commission declared Maduro the winner and he dismissed international criticism as a right-wing conspiracy.
The United States, Argentina, and Peru recognize González as the elected president.
During a visit to China, Sánchez said that Madrid’s position – which requires the release of a detailed count in the presence of EU mediators and which has not yet recognised either Maduro or González as the winner – is clear and has not changed.
“We asked for the bill to be published, but we did not recognize the victory of Nicolas Maduro, we are doing something very important and working for EU unity,” he told reporters in Kunshan. “There is an opportunity for mediation.
Venezuelan exiles gathered outside Spain’s parliament on Tuesday night as lawmakers began debating a proposal from the main opposition Popular Party.
Gonzalez has not been seen in public since arriving in Spain.
“I believe that asylum is a humanitarian gesture and a civil humanitarian commitment of Spanish society and its government to those who have the misfortune of being persecuted and oppressed,” Sánchez said.
Venezuelan opposition leader Antonio Ledezma, who lives in Spain, told Askume that Gonzalez’s escape would give his movement a boost. “Edmundo will be free, he will not be imprisoned within four walls like in Venezuela, and he will be able to lead the fight for Venezuela’s freedom by leading the expatriate community.”
