By EFE
08 Sep 2024, 17:23 PM EDT
SANTIAGO, CHILE – The Chilean government on Sunday regretted “the forced exile” of Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia and “categorically rejected the persecution, harassment and political violence to which he was subjected,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement.
“The Government of Chile condemns any form of repression against opponents of the dictatorial regime in Venezuela and reiterates its call for respect for human rights, fundamental freedoms and the physical integrity of all Venezuelans,” added the brief note released by the Foreign Ministry.
González Urrutia arrived in Spain on Sunday, where the government of Pedro Sánchez will grant him asylum for suffering political and judicial persecution following the elections of July 28, in which the National Electoral Council (CNE) awarded the victory to Nicolás Maduro, a result later validated by the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ).
The Chilean government of progressive Gabriel Boric and other international leaders have repeatedly demanded that Maduro publicly release the electoral records in order to recognise the election results. However, the Venezuelan president has refused to do so.
Since coming to power in March 2022, Boric has been one of the harshest voices in the region against the Venezuelan president, a stance that he has intensified over time to the point of calling Maduro’s regime a “dictatorship”, marking wide distances with other progressive Latin American leaders, such as Brazil’s Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva or Colombia’s Gustavo Petro.
His position has also opened a schism in the coalition with which he governs, which includes key executive positions made up of the Communist Party, after the party refused to call Maduro a dictator and called for “abstaining” from fomenting “a climate of confrontation” in the Caribbean country.
Relations between Chile and Venezuela are going through a complicated moment, in addition, due to several diplomatic impasses related to the penetration of organized crime and the management of security between both countries.
González Urrutia’s asylum comes after the Attorney General’s Office described as “false” the electoral records that his coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), posted on a website and that, according to the opposition bloc, gave him the victory by a wide margin.
As a result of this publication and the fraud complaint, González Urrutia was called to testify before the Prosecutor’s Office, which accused him of “alleged commission of crimes of usurpation of functions” and “forgery of public documents”, among others. When he did not appear, a court issued an arrest warrant against him.