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Spain accused of helping Maduro regime of persecuting Venezuela's presumed winner

Man raises right hand in demonstration
Cristian Hernandez
/
AP
FILE - Opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez leads a demonstration against the official election results that declared that President Nicolas Maduro won reelection in Caracas, Venezuela, July 30, 2024.

It’s been a week since Venezuela’s opposition election challenger and presumed winner went into exile in Spain. But now, Spain is being accused of helping Venezuela persecute him.

By now you know the Venezuelan presidential election story: Most everyone agrees opposition candidate Edmundo González won the July 28 vote by a landslide. But dictatorial socialist President Nicolás Maduro fraudulently declared victory anyway — then threatened to arrest González who then fled to Spain.
 
But over the weekend, Brazilian diplomats accused Spain’s socialist government of allowing Maduro’s political enforcers into the Spanish embassy in Caracas while González took refuge there. Before González could leave for Spain, the Maduro agents forced him to sign a document saying he lost the presidential election.
 
The Spanish government denies it helped the Maduro regime intimidate the 75-year-old González. But if Spain did allow Maduro henchmen that contact with González, then Madrid has a lot of explaining to do.

READ MORE: Venezuelan opposition calls on US to cancel oil company licenses to pressure Maduro

This is a News In Brief report. Visit WLRN News for in-depth reporting from South Florida and Florida news.

Tim Padgett is the Americas Editor for WLRN, covering Latin America, the Caribbean and their key relationship with South Florida. Contact Tim at tpadgett@wlrnnews.org
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