Venezuelan presidential opposition candidate heads for Spanish exile

Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia was on Sunday heading into exile in Spain aboard a military aeroplane after the South American country's government afforded him safe passage.

Gonzalez Urrutia — who disputed President Nicolas Maduro's July 28 re-election — had been in hiding for a month, ignoring three successive summons to appear before prosecutors and arguing that attending the hearing could have cost him his freedom.

"After taking refuge voluntarily at the Spanish embassy in Caracas a few days ago, (Gonzalez Urrutia) asked the Spanish government for political asylum," Venezuela's vice-president Delcy Rodriguez said on social media, adding that Caracas had agreed to his safe passage.

Madrid's Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said on X that Gonzalez Urrutia "at his request" had departed on a Spanish military plane, adding that Spain was "committed to the political rights" of all Venezuelans.

Gonzalez Urrutia's lawyer Jose Vicente Haro also confirmed to AFP that the opposition candidate had left for Spain, declining to comment further.

Venezuela has been in political crisis since July when authorities declared Maduro the victor of the election.

The opposition cried foul, claiming it had evidence Gonzalez Urrutia had won by a comfortable margin.

Numerous nations, including the United States, European Union and several Latin American countries, have refused to recognize Maduro as the winner without Caracas releasing detailed voting data.

After the election, Venezuelan prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez Urrutia over his insistence that he was the rightful winner of the election.

Speaking at a socialist party meeting on Saturday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described Gonzalez Urrutia as "a hero who Spain will not abandon".

Attorney-General Tarek William Saab said he will make an "important announcement", which the public prosecutor's office said would take place at 11:00 am on Sunday.

Lawyer Joel Garcia, who has defended opposition figures in Venezuela, said that if Gonzalez Urrutia was charged with everything the government has accused him of, he could face a jail sentence of 30 years.

Authorities said Maduro had won re-election to a third, six-year term with 52 per cent of the vote.

The opposition published its own voting records, which it says showed Gonzalez Urrutia winning 67 per cent of the vote.