Former Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has fled into exile after being granted asylum in Spain, delivering a major blow to millions who placed their hopes in his upstart campaign to end two decades of single party rule.
The surprise departure of the man who Venezuela's opposition and several foreign governments consider the legitimate winner of July's presidential race was announced late Saturday night by Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez.
She said the government decided to grant Gonzalez safe passage out of the country, just days after ordering his arrest , to help restore "the country's political peace and tranquility."
Neither Gonzalez nor opposition leader Maria Corina Machado have commented.
Meanwhile, Spain's center-left government said the decision to abandon Venezuela was Gonzalez's alone and he departed on a plane sent by the country's air force.
