MADRID, Sept 10 (Askume) – Exiled opposition members Antonio Ledezma and Leopoldo Lopez told Askume on Tuesday that Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez is their “very clear voice” for change in the country although he will remain in Spain to seek asylum.
Gonzalez said he had won the presidential election held on July 28 and could be re-inaugurated on January 10, despite incumbent President Nicolas Maduro claiming he won the election and ignoring it amid international criticism.
Ledezma, a longtime Venezuelan opposition leader and former Caracas mayor, said Gonzalez’s escape would strengthen his case.
“Edmundo will be free, he will not be imprisoned within four walls like in Venezuela, and he will be able to lead the migrant community in the struggle for Venezuela’s independence,” Ledezma said.
Venezuelan exiles gathered outside Spain’s parliament on Tuesday as Spanish lawmakers debated a symbolic motion by the main opposition party to recognize Gonzalez as the election winner. The motion is expected to be approved on Wednesday.
Venezuela’s opposition said Gonzalez, 75, won a landslide victory in July’s election and published results online showing he had won.
Maduro has denied all such claims and said that a right-wing conspiracy is being hatched to harm his government.
Ledezma said Gonzalez, who had not been seen in public since arriving in Spain on Sunday, was “safe, free, alive” and “stable” after a few difficult days.
“The most important thing is that he stays alive so he can take the oath before January 10,” he said.
López, who was jailed in 2014 for leading protests against Maduro before being released in 2017 and moving to Spain, has called on the United States and the European Union to impose oil and personal sanctions on Maduro’s government.
“Today Maduro has an oxygen pipeline because these licenses allow American and European companies to extract Venezuela’s oil and sell it at full price,” he said.
Hundreds of people, including González’s daughter Carolina González, gathered outside Spain’s parliament in Madrid carrying Venezuelan flags and chanting “Brave Venezuela” and “Edmundo, president!”
He read a message from his father in which he said he would keep fighting.
She said, “I promise you that this fight will continue until we reach our goal, till the end… Don’t lose courage, I will not let you down.”
The Spanish government has not recognised any winner in the Venezuelan election, but has called for the vote count to be continued, in line with the European Union’s position .
Spokesperson Pilar Alegría said: “(We) will continue working on solutions that improve Venezuela’s democracy and will certainly grant the asylum request of Edmundo González and his wife.”
