Maduro rival flees Venezuela for exile in Spain
Former Venezuelan presidential candidate Edmundo González fled as part of a negotiated deal with Nicolás Maduro’s government


What happened
Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González, who credibly claims to have won his country's July 28 presidential election, arrived in Spain on Sunday, seeking asylum. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said González, a 75-year-old former diplomat who replaced her on the ballot after she was barred from running, fled Venezuela because "his life was in danger" and he faced "increasing threats, summons, arrest warrants" from President Nicolás Maduro's unscrupulous regime.
Who said what
In an audio message Sunday, González said his departure was "surrounded by acts of pressure, coercion and threats," but "I trust that we will soon continue our fight to achieve our freedom and the restoration of Venezuela’s democracy." Machado said "Edmundo will fight from outside alongside our diaspora" and return for the Jan. 10 presidential inauguration.
Despite Machado's "positive spin," González's surprise exit dealt a "major blow to millions who placed their hopes in his opposition campaign," The Associated Press said. He joins the "swelling ranks of opposition stalwarts who once fought Maduro only to throw in the towel" amid a "brutal crackdown," including at least four other former presidential hopefuls who also fled to Spain to escape Maduro's persecution. The government's strategy is to force its loudest critics to flee, then "paint them as not being willing to fight, not being brave, not being strong," Francisco Rodríguez, an international affairs professor at the University of Denver, said to The New York Times.
What next?
Since Maduro's loyalist electoral panel declared him winner without providing any evidence, his government has arrested at least 2,000 people, including scores of opposition activists and hundreds of protesters. With Maduro having "solidified his hold on power" and efforts by Brazil, Mexico and Colombia to "broker a resolution" going "nowhere," the Times said, the opposition "has seemingly few options" left for a political settlement.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
How the woke right gained power in the US
Under the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff
-
Crossword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff
-
El Salvador's CECOT prison becomes Washington's go-to destination
IN THE SPOTLIGHT Republicans and Democrats alike are clamoring for access to the Trump administration's extrajudicial deportation camp — for very different reasons
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US
-
Supreme Court gives Trump 2 deportation wins
Speed Read The court ruled that the Trump administration could continue to deport Venezuelan migrants
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Venezuelan deportees: Locked up for tattoos?
Feature A former pro soccer player was deported after U.S. authorities claimed his tattoo proved he belonged to a Venezuelan gang
By The Week US
-
Trump's TPS takedown
Feature The president plans to deport a million immigrants with protected status. What effects will that have?
By The Week US
-
White House ignores judicial deportation blocks
Speed Read The Trump administration deports alleged Venezuelan gang members under a wartime law, defying a court order
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
The impact of protective-status removal for Venezuelan migrants
In the Spotlight The White House ended a program that was stopping thousands of Venezuelans from being deported
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
'Climate change doesn't just boost record weather events — it boosts the snake-oil salesmen'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
Pentagon Discord leaker gets 15 years in prison
Speed Read Jack Teixeira, a Massachusetts Air National Guard member, leaked classified military documents
By Peter Weber, The Week US