MADRID, Sept 12 (Askume) – Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met Venezuela’s self-exiled opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez in Madrid on Thursday. A day before the meeting, the lower house of the Spanish parliamentThe vote recognized González as the winner of the July presidential election.
Gonzalez, 75, who was wanted by Venezuelan authorities for conspiracy and other crimes , pleaded guilty on SundaySánchez was seeking asylum in Spain when he traveled to China .
Sanchez posted on the X social media platform: “I warmly welcome Edmundo Gonzalez to our country. His welcome underlines Spain’s humanitarian commitment and solidarity with the Venezuelan people.”
The post showed a video of the couple and Gonzalez’s daughter walking through the gardens of the Moncloa Palace, the prime minister’s official residence.
In a separate statement, Gonzalez thanked Sanchez, his government and the Spanish people for the welcome.
About his conversation with Sánchez, he said, “We discussed the serious situation in Venezuela and the need to work together on the transition to democracy.”
Venezuela’s opposition released the vote count from July’s election and said Gonzalez had won in a landslide. But the national election commission declared incumbent President Nicolas Maduro the winner. Maduro has dismissed international criticism as a right-wing conspiracy.
On Wednesday, Spain’s lower house approved a resolution urging the government to recognise Gonzalez as the democratically elected president, a symbolic move Sanchez said would strengthen his minority Socialist leadership but would be ignored by the government.
Spain is instead urging the EU to publish a detailed vote count in the presence of EU mediators, although it has not yet recognised either Maduro or Gonzalez as the winner.
Gonzalez thanked Spanish lawmakers for recognising his victory in the July election.
He also reiterated his “unwavering” commitment to fulfilling his duties, adding: “The fight will continue until the end, when all our families are finally reunited on Venezuelan soil.”
In response to the Spanish parliamentary resolution, the Venezuelan parliament called on Maduro’s government to end already fragile diplomatic relations with Madrid.
