Former Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has fled to Spain following the country’s disputed elections, according to officials.
While President Nicolas Maduro declared victory in July’s vote, most Western governments have yet to recognise the result and some – along with Venezuela’s opposition – regard Mr Gonzalez as the legitimate winner.
Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodríguez said Mr Gonzalez, 75, went into exile after being granted asylum in Spain.
She announced the government decided to grant Gonzalez safe passage out of the country, despite earlier this week ordering his arrest, to help restore “the country’s political peace and tranquillity”.
There has been no comment from Mr Gonzalez nor opposition leader Maria Corina Machado.
Spain’s centre-left government said the decision to abandon Venezuela was Mr Gonzalez’s alone and he departed on a plane sent by the country’s air force.
Mr Gonzalez was a last minute stand in when Ms Machado was banned from running in the presidential election.
His campaign increased the hopes of Venezuelans who were desperate for change after a decade-long economic freefall.
Unlike in previous presidential elections, the National Electoral Council did not release vote tallies backing Mr Maduro’s claim to victory.
But the main opposition coalition obtained results from more than 80% of the electronic voting machines used in the election and said its candidate, Mr Gonzalez, defeated Mr Maduro by a two-to-one margin.
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The lack of transparency over the results, along with widespread arrests that followed anti-government protests, has drawn global condemnation.
The criticism of Mr Maduro and his allies grew on Monday after a judge approved a prosecutor’s request for an arrest warrant for Mr Gonzalez for various crimes including conspiracy and falsifying documents.
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Experts from the United Nations and the Carter Center, who observed the election, determined the results announced by electoral authorities lacked credibility and were unfair.
In a statement, the UN experts stopped short of validating the opposition’s claim to victory, but said the voting records it published online appear to exhibit all of the original security features.
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Thousands of people took part in protests across Venezuela hours after electoral authorities declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner.
Mr Maduro and his ruling party allies responded to the demonstrations with full force.
Human Rights Watch has implicated Venezuelan security forces and pro-government armed groups in killings following July’s election.
It claims that credible evidence gathered and analysed by researchers, forensic pathologists and arms experts ties Venezuela’s national guard and national police to some of the 24 deaths that took place as people protested against the outcome of the disputed election.
