(CNN Spanish) – Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González indicated this Friday within the framework of the La Doja forum for political debate in northwest Spain that despite leaving Venezuela as a result of “unspeakable pressures and serious threats”, his departure from the country is only temporary.
Giving his first public speech almost a month after arriving in Spain, González Urrutia took the opportunity to declare himself Venezuela's “elect president” and “communicator” for the Venezuelan diaspora. A role he assumes, he promises, “is to promote Spanish solidarity with the Venezuelan democratic cause—and, by extension, the rest of Europe.”
Using the purpose of this forum, Gonzalez Urrutia urged Spain and the international community to continue, using the presence of relevant political figures such as the leader of the Popular Party Alberto Núñez Feijo or the head of the Government of Galicia, Alfonso Ruta. It urges “to contribute to the objective of ensuring that the sovereignty of the people expressed in the referendum held on July 28 in Venezuela is fully implemented and respected.”
Before the audience, the opposition leader spoke about the need for Venezuela to recover “lost opportunities by not only recovering our democratic and institutional normality”, but also the normality of our economic activities. He called on the Ibero-American community to join its support “to return our country to institutional normalcy, energetically and effectively.”
González Urrutia once again thanked the Spanish government for helping him face “the most difficult and demanding chapter I have experienced in my personal life”.
CNN has reached out to the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs for comment on these reports.
Maduro's government has on previous occasions denied forcing him to leave Venezuela, based on complaints of threats and pressure from the Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate. The opposition leader has been in Madrid since September 8, when he formally requested political asylum this week, as announced by Foreign Minister José Manuel Alvarez.
