Venezuela’s Opposition cornered as Gonzales flees and Maduro digs in

Venezuela's opposition struggles against Maduro's disputed re-election, facing arrests, exile, and international pressure in a political crisis.

Venezuela's battered opposition is running out of options for challenging President Nicolas Maduro's claim to have won re-election.

Opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia fled in exile to Spain over the weekend. The popular leader he stood in for at the polls, Maria Corina Machado, is in hiding. Other opposition figures have been arrested and Mr. Maduro is firmly in charge of the oil-rich nation - showing no sign of yielding.

Mr. Maduro's disputed win in the July 28 election is challenged not just by the opposition or historic geopolitical rivals such as the United States, but also by leftist allies of Venezuela such as Brazil and Colombia.

The latter have come up empty-handed in their efforts to help find a peaceful solution to the crisis.

Inside the country, chatter abounds about what the opposition calls a stolen election - but people make their criticisms in whispers: no one wants to join the more than 2,400 people who have been arrested since the vote, including children, with some even accused of "terrorism."

Mr. Maduro would be sworn in for a third term on January 10, and in the next four months, anything can happen.

But for now, Venezuela looks like this: Mr. Maduro and other heirs of the late iconic socialist leader Hugo Chaves are closing ranks, the opposition is trying to somehow reorganize itself and the outside world is assessing how to confront a Maduro whom international sanctions and pressure have long failed to shake.