CARACAS: Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado vowed on Monday to stay in Venezuela, a day after her colleague and presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia accepted asylum in Spain, alleging post-election repression. “I decided to stay in Venezuela and participate in the fight from there, while he (Gonzalez Urrutia) will do it from abroad,” Machado, who is in hiding, told reporters via video conference. Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, arrived in Madrid late Sunday after weeks in hiding following the July 28 presidential election, which the opposition insists he won but which incumbent Nicolas Maduro claimed. “We all know that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia is the elected president of Venezuela … whether he is in Venezuela or anywhere else in the world,” Machado said. The fact that he is now abroad “doesn’t change anything: the legitimacy is preserved, the strategy is the same,” she insisted. After his arrival in Spain, Gonzalez Urrutia said he decided to leave “so that things can change and so that we can build a new scene for Venezuela.” Machado said he left the country because “his life was in danger.” “Only a policy of dialogue will allow us to reunite as compatriots,” Gonzalez Urrutia wrote in a letter addressed to Venezuelans and posted on the X social network. “I made this decision with Venezuela in mind and that our destiny as a country cannot, must not be a conflict of pain and suffering.” Maduro, who previously called for the jailing of his rival and Machado after the election, expressed his “respect” for Gonzalez Urrutia’s decision in a televised message on Monday and wished him well “in his new life.” Maduro said he spearheaded the process that led to Gonzalez Urrutia’s departure “in an effort to consolidate peace.” Gonzalez Urrutia replaced Machado at the last minute after she was blocked from running by institutions loyal to Maduro, who observers accuse of human rights abuses. Venezuela’s regime-loyal National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Maduro the winner of the election, but the opposition broke down in tears and much of the international community refused to accept the result. Machado is mostly in hiding, but has led several anti-Maduro protests since the disputed vote. Prosecutors opened an investigation against Gonzalez Urrutia for crimes related to his insistence that he was the rightful winner of the election. The charges include usurpation of public office, forgery of a public document, incitement to disobedience, sabotage and links to organized crime. He faces up to 30 years in prison. The accusations stem from the opposition releasing its own list of ballots cast at the polling station level, which it says shows Gonzalez Urrutia won about two-thirds of the vote. Venezuela’s electoral authority said it could not provide a breakdown of election results, blaming a cyber attack on its systems. Observers said there was no evidence of such hacking. Post-election violence in Venezuela has left 27 dead and 192 injured, while the government says it has arrested about 2,400 people. The International Criminal Court’s prosecutor’s office in The Hague said on Monday it was monitoring “current developments” in Venezuela. Human rights NGOs called on the United Nations on Monday to change the mandate of an international fact-finding mission in Venezuela to include post-election violence. “The Venezuelan people are facing a violent crackdown against voters and protesters, political leaders, journalists, human rights defenders and other real or perceived opponents of the Maduro administration,” the groups said in a joint appeal. Maduro’s government has led a crackdown on dissent since the election, with parliament debating a new set of laws to take on “fascism”, a term often used by the regime to describe the opposition. “Venezuela must adopt strict, tough anti-fascist laws because there cannot be hatred, violence, division, persecution of people for their ideas, for their way of thinking and being,” Maduro said on Monday. After Venezuela’s last election in 2018, Maduro also claimed victory amid widespread allegations of fraud. With the support of the army and other institutions, he managed to stay in power despite international sanctions. Maduro’s tenure since 2013 has seen GDP drop by 80 percent over a decade, prompting more than seven million of the country’s 30 million people to migrate.
