Edmundo González, the opposition candidate recognised by the US as the winner of Venezuela’s disputed presidential election, arrived in Spain to seek political asylum on Sunday, having fled the Latin American country after President Nicolás Maduro’s government ordered his arrest.
Spain’s foreign ministry said the Spanish air force plane on which González was travelling landed at a military base outside Madrid on Sunday afternoon. It added that González would begin an asylum application and that its result “will be favourable”.
González’s departure further isolates the Maduro government, whose claim of victory in the July 28 presidential election has not been recognised by most democracies in Europe or the Americas.