“Neither the Spanish government nor the Spanish ambassador in Venezuela put pressure on me,” he said in a letter published on X on Thursday evening by Spain’s Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares.
“Spain’s diplomatic efforts were aimed solely at enabling me to leave the country,” he continued.
Tensions between Venezuela and former colonial power Spain rose sharply after González Urrutia, 75, went into exile on September 8th, after being threatened with arrest for not responding to legal summons.
Caracas recalled its ambassador to Spain for consultations and summoned Madrid’s envoy to Venezuela for talks after the Spanish defence minister accused Maduro of running a “dictatorship”.
González Urrutia said on X on Wednesday he had been “coerced” by Venezuelan authorities into signing a letter conceding defeat to Maduro in the July 28th presidential election, in return for being allowed to leave the South American country.
He said this happened while he was sheltering in the Spanish ambassador’s residence in Caracas.
Spain’s right-wing opposition Popular Party said on Thursday that by authorising the signing of the letter in the embassy building, the Madrid government was complicit in extending Maduro’s hold on power.
Albares rebuffed the accusation, saying on X: “There are times to be in opposition… and times when the country needs to be united.”
“If the Spanish government had done what the Popular Party is insinuating, Edmundo González Urrutia would now be detained in Caracas instead of being free in Madrid,” he told public broadcaster TVE on Friday.
“Everything about Edmundo González Urrutia’s arrival in Spain — his entering the (ambassador’s) residence, his coming to Spain, his asking for asylum — was at his express request.”
Member comments