Venezuelan vote ends in opposition leader's exile

Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez landed in Spain on Sunday after an arrest warrant accused him of terrorism as President Nicolas Maduro continues to crack down on dissent despite international condemnation.

Gonzalez fled to Spain after several days of shuttling between foreign embassies in Caracas "to save his liberty, integrity and life," Maria Corina Machado, Gonzalez's ally and the key opposition figure blocked by Maduro from running in the election, said on social media.

"My departure from Caracas was surrounded by episodes of pressure, coercion and threats in order to not allow me to leave," Gonzalez said in an audio post to his followers. "I am confident that in the near future we will continue the struggle to achieve freedom and recover democracy in Venezuela."

The US and other countries have not recognized official election results from 28 July and backed the opposition coalition's claim that Gonzalez likely was the winner. But Washington has refrained from taking any action, including enforcing an even stricter regime of oil and other sanctions, to force Maduro to cede power.

"The United States strongly condemns Maduro's decision to use repression and intimidation to cling to power by brute force rather than acknowledge his defeat at the polls," secretary of state Antony Blinken said.

Gonzalez's departure highlighted pessimism over the possibility of a negotiated departure for Maduro, who claims that he won a third term.

"Today is a sad day for democracy," EU foreign affairs representative Josep Borrell said, saying that removing Gonzalez from Venezuela was the only solution for now.

Oil minister and vice-president Delcy Rodriguez confirmed Gonzalez's departure late on 7 September, labeling Gonzalez an "opposition citizen" who was granted safe passage after requesting political asylum.

In the days after the election, 23 demonstrators and one national guard member were killed, according to figures from the Organization of American States. Maduro boasted of arresting 2,500 "terrorists", but human rights non-governmental organizations say the detainees are demonstrators, election workers, politicians and journalists. According to the human-rights group Foro Penal, more than 1,700 are still in jail.

By Carlos Camacho