Venezuelan who challenged Maduro for presidency, likely won race flees for asylum in Spain

Former Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo González went into exile in Spain on Sunday after receiving asylum. González challenged incumbant Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in the country's July election.

González is widely believed to have won the race. Maduro, however, refused to concede and asked Venezuela's high court to validate the results. The court, packed with Maduro loyalists, confirmed Maduro as the winner.

The Venezuelan government issued a warrant for González's arrest to restore "the country's political peace and tranquility," The Associated Press reported.

González arrived at a military airport near Madrid on Sunday. His wife accompanied him to Spain.

"His life was in danger, and the growing threats, legal citations, arrest orders, and even blackmail attempts that he was subjected to demonstrate that the regime has no scruples or limits in its obsession to silence him and try to break him," wrote Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on X.

Spanish Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares extended the asylum offer to González.

"I have been able to speak to (González), and once he was aboard the airplane, he expressed his gratitude toward the Spanish government and Spain," Albares said. "Of course, I told him we were pleased that he is well and on his way to Spain, and I reiterated the commitment of our government to the political rights of all Venezuelans."

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez hailed González as "a hero whom Spain is not going to abandon" before the announcement of González's departure.