Spanish PM meets Venezuelan opposition figure amid tensions

Spanish PM meets Venezuelan Opposition leader in Madrid amid rising tensions, asylum request, and electoral dispute.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met Thursday (September 12, 2024) with Venezuelan Opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who fled to Madrid over the weekend requesting asylum, as tensions mounted between Caracas and its former colonial ruler.

The meeting came just hours after the head of Venezuela's parliament called for suspending ties with Madrid.

That came after Spanish lawmakers approved a non-binding motion urging Mr. Sanchez's government to recognise Gonzalez Urrutia as the "legitimate winner" of the July Presidential election that gave Nicolas Maduro a third six-year term.

Mr. Sanchez published a video on X showing him walking in the gardens at his official residence with Gonzalez Urrutia and the Opposition figure's daughter Carolina Gonzalez, who lives in Spain.

"Spain continues to work in favour of democracy, dialogue and the fundamental rights of the brotherly people of Venezuela," he posted, adding that he "warmly welcomed Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia to our country".

It was the first meeting between Mr. Sanchez and Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, since he and his wife landed in Spain on Sunday (September 8, 2024) to seek political asylum.

He had been in hiding following the July 28 Presidential election in Venezuela that the Opposition insists he won. But Mr. Maduro claimed victory and ordered Gonzalez Urrutia's arrest.