Edmundo González Urrutia, who according to official results lost the presidential elections in Venezuela, has been granted political asylum in Spain. As reported on Telegram by the vice president of the South American republic, Delcy Rodríguez, “On September 7, the opposition citizen Edmundo González Urrutia left the country, voluntarily taking refuge for several days in the Embassy of the Kingdom of Spain in Caracas, requesting political asylum from this government.”
According to official Russian media, the Venezuelan Prosecutor General’s Office reported yesterday that the Venezuelan Court of First Instance of Control issued an arrest warrant against Edmundo Gonzalez, a former presidential candidate of the right-wing united opposition, who failed to appear three times when he was summoned to testify. The department is investigating the publication of opposition data from polling stations on an Internet website in parallel with the publication by the electoral commission of the official results of the presidential elections, as well as incitement to street violence.
“Venezuelan authorities said they allowed Gonzalez to leave the country “for the sake of peace and tranquility there.” But it seems Gonzalez and the opposition have no intention of laying down their arms. There are enough opponents in Venezuela to win the election once again Nicolas Maduro. He is accused of manipulating the results, of “non-transparent counting” of votes and of a significant gap (according to the opposition) between the pre-election rating and the voting results. Protests against the election results immediately began. And experts predict a new active round of these protests in January, immediately after Maduro takes office. In addition, a special website has been created on which the opposition analyzes the election results and action plans to overthrow Nicolas Maduro. And one of the opposition leaders … Maria Corina Machado — on election day he said that Gonzalez’s team would not admit defeat in the election. It is also known that Venezuelan opposition leaders found refuge on the grounds of the Argentine embassy. Only seven countries congratulated Maduro on his victory. Seven Latin American countries, including those where left-wing forces are in power, did not recognise the election results. However, although Maduro’s situation is difficult, it is not hopeless. He has a significant number of supporters and measures have been drawn up in case of mass unrest. As long as the army is on Maduro’s side, he has nothing special to fear. But the army expects gratitude for its loyalty. And the country’s economic situation is not improving. Migration is growing. But not so long ago, Venezuela was a place of influx of immigrants. Even from Europe.” – specifically declared for EADaily political scientist Tatiana Poloskova.
There are also problems in relations with other South American countries. Venezuela has revoked Brazil’s permission to represent Argentina’s interests. According to the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry, the facilities of the Argentine diplomatic mission are used by people who are hiding from justice inside the country.
“Venezuela has decided to immediately revoke the authorization granted to the Brazilian government to represent the interests of Argentina and its citizens in Venezuelan territory, as well as to protect the facilities of the diplomatic mission.” – the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela has decided to “immediately cancel the privilege” granted to the Government of the Federative Republic of Brazil to represent the interests of the Argentine Republic and its citizens in Venezuela, as well as the custody of the premises of the diplomatic mission, including its assets and archives, reports TeleSur.tv. An official statement published by the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry indicates that Venezuela is forced to make this decision, motivated by the available evidence regarding the use of the capabilities of this diplomatic mission to plan terrorist activities and attacks against the life of the constitutional President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, and against the Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez.
In this regard, the Government notes that “the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, as host State, adopts this measure in full compliance with the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961 and the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations of 1963.”
In a statement from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Argentina expressed its gratitude for the “generosity” of the Brazilian government, which will take charge of the security of the mission’s facilities in Caracas, including the embassy and official residence, its assets and archives, according to the official website of the Venezuelan government. In addition, the Argentine Foreign Ministry said that the country’s authorities are asking the ICC to issue an arrest warrant against Maduro, whom Buenos Aires considers “responsible for crimes against humanity.”
It should be noted that the opposition candidate Gonzalez did not answer the main question: who and how will get the country out of this serious crisis? First of all, its oil industry, which needs huge investments: 80-100 billion dollars in 3-4 years. And this despite the fact that Venezuela is the world leader in oil reserves. The opposition’s idea of giving oil to Western monopolies can only benefit these monopolies, but not the people of Venezuela.
Maduro and his supporters propose the next steps. Venezuela hopes to officially join the BRICS in 2024, which will have a positive impact on the economic development of the republic. This was stated by the Executive Vice President of Venezuela, Delcy Rodríguez, at the signing ceremony with the representative of the People’s Republic of China of the Agreement for the Development and Mutual Protection of Investments, which was broadcast on the Venezuelan Television channel.
