Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro said Monday that he respected the decision of the flag bearer of the largest opposition coalition, Edmundo González Urrutia, to leave the Caribbean nation for Spain, after applying for asylum and being granted safe passage by its government.
“I can say to Ambassador González Urrutia, in Madrid, I say to him: my respect for your decision, all my respect for the decision you have made,” the president said in his weekly television program. “I understand the step he has taken. And I respect him. I hope that everything goes well for you on your path and in your new life.
On Saturday, the Venezuelan government announced that González Urrutia left the Caribbean nation, with a safe conduct granted “for the sake of tranquility and political peace”, after having spent “several days” sheltered at the Spanish embassy, following an asylum request.
Maduro argued that after the departure of González Urrutia from Venezuelathe country “is calm.” “We played fairly and fairly, we won and when I say we won, it is because the peace of the country has won. Today, the country is calm, the country applauds what happened,” he stressed.
On Sunday, the former ambassador said his departure from Venezuela to Spain “was surrounded by episodes of pressure, coercion and threats.”
This Monday, González Urrutia said that the decision to leave the Caribbean nation was made because the destiny of Venezuelans “cannot, must not be that of a conflict of pain and suffering.” “I did it so that things change and we can build a new era for Venezuela,” the Venezuelan opponent said in a statement published in X.
In his statement, González Urrutia calls for a “policy of dialogue” and asks that “only democracy and the realization of the popular will can be the way to” the “future of the country,” something in which he will continue to be “committed.”