European Union calls on Caracas to end oppression of opposition

Brussels is banging its fist on the table. The European Union demands that Venezuela end the oppression of opposition leaders and release all political prisoners, EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell said on Sunday, September 8. At the same time, opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia fled Venezuela for Spain, which granted him asylum.

Josep Borrell said that Nicolas Maduro’s opponent “has faced repression, political persecution and direct threats to his security and freedom” before seeking exile. “Today is a sad day for democracy in Venezuela”added the EU’s foreign policy chief, adding that “in a democracy, no political leader should be forced to seek asylum in another country”.

Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who challenged President Nicolas Maduro’s re-election on July 28, left Venezuela after ignoring three successive summonses to appear before prosecutors, arguing that his presence at the hearing could have cost him his freedom.

On X, Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said the opposition candidate’s departure was necessary to “preserve one’s freedom and life”. “His life was in danger, and the increase in threats, summonses and arrest warrants issued against him shows that the regime has no scruples or limits in its obsession with silencing him and trying to break him.”she wrote, assuring that Gonzalez Urrutia is “will beat from the outside”.