Venezuela opposition candidate granted asylum in Spain

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00:00That's right.

00:01El País newspaper, which is a left-wing newspaper here, actually says that there were Spanish

00:07diplomats at a European embassy and that this was brokered partly through the former prime

00:14minister, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero.

00:18But the Spanish government, the foreign minister, José Manuel Álvarez, has said that González

00:26asked Spain, that it was his idea to seek asylum in Spain, and that as a result of that,

00:35that González is on board a plane headed for Spain.

00:42He says that he managed to speak to the former opposition leader, that he says, he told me

00:49he was very grateful to the Spanish government and to Spain.

00:54And he said that he passed on his joy that he's well-headed to Spain.

00:59And basically, the foreign minister has said that he has reiterated the commitment of the

01:05Spanish government with the political rights of all Spaniards.

01:10Of course, the 75-year-old opposition leader had been in hiding for about a month.

01:19And it's understood that he had been at the Spanish embassy in Caracas.

01:24He's now become one of those opposition members to seek refuge, essentially, in Spain.

01:33There's about 100,000 Venezuelans who are currently in Spain.

01:38It has become a seat for the opposition here.

01:43And how is this situation being perceived by the Spaniards?

01:48Well, it's very interesting because there's just so many Spaniards that emphasize and

01:55have roots in Venezuela and really want the Nicolas Maduro government to hold peace, democratic

02:07elections and to leave government.

02:09And there's a big call for the Spanish government to do more.

02:14In fact, the former opposition leader, the conservative Alberto Núñez-Feijó has said

02:21that the socialist and left-wing government led by Pedro Sánchez should join those governments

02:28that recognize Edmundo González as the legitimate winner of those July elections.

02:34But this is a very divisive issue in Spain, partly because the far left, members of the

02:41far left here in Spain, including that former left-wing leader of Podemos, Pablo Iglesias,

02:48they actually formally helped the Hugo Chávez government.

02:52And so it is a very polarizing issue.

02:55And at the moment, the Spanish government says that it wants to seek the most peaceful

03:00outcome for all Venezuelans.

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