Spanish PM meets Venezuelan opposition figure amid tensions

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez met Thursday with Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who fled to Madrid over the weekend requesting asylum, as tensions mounted between Caracas and its former colonial ruler.

The meeting cane just hours after the head of Venezuela's parliament called for the suspension of ties with Madrid after Spanish lawmakers approved a non-binding motion urging Sanchez's government to recognise Gonzalez Urrutia as the "legitimate winner" of a July presidential election that gave strongman Nicolas Maduro a third six-year term.

Just before noon, Sanchez published a video on social network X showing him walking in the gardens at his official residence with Gonzalez Urrutia and the opposition figure's daughter Carolina Gonzalez who lives in Spain. "Spain continues to work in favour of democracy, dialogue and the fundamental rights of the brotherly people of Venezuela," he wrote on X, adding he "warmly welcomed Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia to our country".

It was the first meeting between Sanchez, who arrived earlier on Thursday from an official visit to China, and Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, since the Venezuelan opposition figure arrived in Spain on Sunday with his wife to seek political asylum.

He had been in hiding following a July 28 presidential election in the Latin American nation that the opposition insists he won but was claimed by incumbent Venezuelan President Maduro who had ordered Gonzalez Urrutia's arrest. The meeting between Sanchez and Gonzalez Urrutia was "private", a source close to the Venezuelan opposition figure told AFP.

- 'Gesture of humanity' -
While the United States has recognised Gonzalez Urrutia as the winner of the election, Spain and other European Union nations have so far limited themselves to refusing to accept Maduro as the victor and calling on the Venezuelan government to release the voting tally sheets.

"From a political point of view, the Spanish government has been clear since the elections were organised," Sanchez said Wednesday. "We have asked for the publication of the results, we have not recognised Nicolas Maduro's victory," he added.

"And we are doing something very important: working for unity in the European Union... so that we can find a way out that reflects the democratic will expressed at the ballot box by the Venezuelan people." Sanchez also said that granting Gonzalez Urrutia asylum was a "gesture of humanity".

Madrid wants to "maintain the best relations with the Venezuelan people" a government spokeswoman said earlier on Thursday in response to Venezuela's threat to suspend political and economic ties with Spain. "Of course, our interest will always be to work to maintain the best relations with the Venezuelan people," Pilar Alegria told reporters, adding that Spanish missions in Venezuela were working normally.

Venezuela is home to a large community of Spanish citizens and descendants while major Spanish firms such as oil giant Repsol, telecoms firm Telefonica and BBVA bank had a significant presence. - 'New stage' - After his arrival in Spain, Gonzalez Urrutia said he had decided to leave "so that things can change and so we can build a new stage for Venezuela."
"I have taken this decision thinking of Venezuela and that our destiny as a country cannot, must not, be that of a conflict of pain and suffering," he added in a letter posted on social network X on Wednesday.

Venezuelan prosecutors had opened an investigation against Gonzalez Urrutia for crimes related to his insistence that he was the rightful election victor. Charges include usurpation of public functions, forgery of a public document, incitement to disobedience, sabotage, and association with origanised crime. He risked a prison sentence of 30 years.

The charges stem from the opposition publishing its own tally of polling station-level ballots cast, which it says showed Gonzalez Urrutia winning about two-thirds of votes. Venezuela's electoral authority has said it cannot provide a breakdown of the election results, blaming a cyber attack on its systems.