Former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe Gonzalez beat a hasty retreat from Venezuela today, having not received responses to requests to visit the country’s political prisoners and attend their trials. Gonzalez left Caracas aboard a Colombian Air Force airplane and is now in Bogota.
According to one of Leopoldo Lopez’s lawyers, Juan Carlos Gutierrez, Gonzalez submitted all of the required paperwork to visit Lopez and Daniel Ceballos in prison and to attend their trials as a member of the public. Having failed to receive any kind of response from government officials, Gonzalez decided to not press the issue and instead leave the country.
Gutierrez explained:
All of the paperwork was submitted to the authorities to allow [Gonzalez] to attend the trials and enter the prison, but no written response has yet been receive. I think it’s right that Gonzalez has chosen to act with respect towards Venezuelan authorities … [Gonzalez] doesn’t want a confrontation with the government of Venezuela. He doesn’t want to break the law.
Gutierrez appeared to leave teh door open for Gonzalez’ return, suggesting that it was possible that he would return to the country if Venezuelan authorities approve his requests.
Below, a video taken earlier today showing Gonzalez and his party boarding the airplane that flew him out of Venezuela:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v8zk8bpWQ4
Gonzalez arrived in Venezuela to much fanfare on Sunday. While he was expected to assist in the legal defence of Leopoldo Lopez and possibly Antonio Ledezma, he faced stiff opposition from the country’s authorities immediately upon his arrival.
Maduro: Gonzalez’s Trip a “Failure”
Maduro was quick to celebrate Gonzalez’s departure from the country. Speaking on VTV, a state-run television channel, Maduro said:
I’ve been watching this failed visit by this individual who is hated by the Spanish people, Mr. Felipe Gonzalez. He has failed in his attempt to create disturbances, problems, and conflicts. And he’s left the Venezuelan opposition in very bad standing before the eyes of the people. The fact that there are politicians – if you can call them that – who do the dirty work of the decadent, very corrupt European right wing is embarrassing. [They pretend] to come over here to teach us a lesson on what we Venezuelans should be doing. It’s shocking.
He also speculated that what probably happened is that once Gonzalez realised that coming to Venezuela had been a mistake, he simply “ran away”.
Speaking on the fact that Gonzalez left aboard an official Colombian Air Force airplane, Maduro said that he was “unfortunately surprised”, and that he was going to ask the government of Colombia to explain the situation.
Colombia Quick to Address Gonzalez Flight
The Colombian Foreign Ministry issued a statement shortly after Gonzalez’s departure explaining why an official Colombian government airplane had been dispatched to fly the Spanish diplomat to Bogota.
The statement reads:
1. At noon today, the President of the Republic [Juan Manuel Santos] authorized the transport of the former Spanish Prime ministry, Felipe Gonzalez, to Bogota from the Maiquetia Airport in Caracas [sic] on the Legacy airplane of the Colombian Air Force 1215.
2. President Santos met former Prime Minister Gonzalez in the Palacio de Nariño alongside the chief negotiator of the peace process [with the FARC] Humberto de la Calle.
3. The main topic of conversation was the peace process in Colombia and the upcoming CELAC-EU summit, which starts tomorrow in Brussels.
4. Former Prime Minister Gonzalez has been an unconditional friend of Colombia and of its peace process.
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