Escaped Venezuela Opposition Leader Reaches Spain and Vows Fight
- 7 years ago
Escaped Venezuela Opposition Leader Reaches Spain and Vows Fight
Mr. Maduro, for his part, called Ledezma a "vampire flying around the world." When Mr. Ledezma was removed as mayor of Caracas
and first detained in February 2015, he was accused of plotting with the United States to topple Mr. Maduro.
We don’t have any resources left, only our morale." Mr. Ledezma said his decision to flee was driven
by threats intended to force the opposition to resume negotiations with Mr. Maduro’s government.
On Friday, after slipping past intelligence officers stationed outside his residence, Mr. Ledezma passed through several
police checkpoints in a long journey by car to Colombia, where officials have been at odds with the Maduro government.
Colombian immigration authorities said Mr. Ledezma had entered the country legally after crossing the Simón Bolívar International
Bridge, which connects the Venezuelan city of San Antonio del Táchira with the Colombian town of Villa Rosario.
The year before, Mr. Ledezma was one of the leaders of government protests that shook Venezuela and led to the jailing of other prominent opponents.
Mr. Ledezma said he would fight President Nicolás Maduro and his socialist government from exile.
"Venezuela isn’t on the verge of an abyss — it has fallen into the abyss." Mr. Ledezma, who had been under house arrest in
Caracas on sedition charges since 2016, managed to evade his captors on Friday morning and flee to neighboring Colombia.
Mr. Maduro, for his part, called Ledezma a "vampire flying around the world." When Mr. Ledezma was removed as mayor of Caracas
and first detained in February 2015, he was accused of plotting with the United States to topple Mr. Maduro.
We don’t have any resources left, only our morale." Mr. Ledezma said his decision to flee was driven
by threats intended to force the opposition to resume negotiations with Mr. Maduro’s government.
On Friday, after slipping past intelligence officers stationed outside his residence, Mr. Ledezma passed through several
police checkpoints in a long journey by car to Colombia, where officials have been at odds with the Maduro government.
Colombian immigration authorities said Mr. Ledezma had entered the country legally after crossing the Simón Bolívar International
Bridge, which connects the Venezuelan city of San Antonio del Táchira with the Colombian town of Villa Rosario.
The year before, Mr. Ledezma was one of the leaders of government protests that shook Venezuela and led to the jailing of other prominent opponents.
Mr. Ledezma said he would fight President Nicolás Maduro and his socialist government from exile.
"Venezuela isn’t on the verge of an abyss — it has fallen into the abyss." Mr. Ledezma, who had been under house arrest in
Caracas on sedition charges since 2016, managed to evade his captors on Friday morning and flee to neighboring Colombia.