Gonzalez, the candidate of the Venezuelan opposition, went to Spain as the tension increased

Venezuela’s former opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has traveled to Spain after disputed elections in the South American country, Venezuelan and Spanish officials said Saturday night, after heightened diplomatic tensions.

Venezuelan Vice President Delcy Rodriguez tweeted on Instagram that Gonzalez, 75, who fought President Nicolas Maduro in July, “voluntarily took refuge in the Spanish Embassy in Caracas a few days ago.”

“Edmundo Gonzalez left Caracas for Spain on a Spanish Air Force plane,” Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Albares said, adding that Madrid had responded to Gonzalez’s request.

González’s departure from Venezuela is the latest political development since the country’s July 28 elections. Democracies around the world have criticized the Venezuelan government’s handling of the vote, with election officials and its top court saying Maduro won.

The Venezuelan opposition says the election resulted in a landslide victory for Gonzalez and publishes online vote tallies showing his victory.

This week, prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez in connection with the online publication of the information, charging him with usurpation of office, falsifying government documents and conspiracy, among other charges.

On Saturday morning, the Venezuelan government revoked Brazil’s permission to represent Argentina’s interests in the country, including to run the embassy where six dissidents have taken refuge.

Venezuela broke relations with Argentina after the presidential elections. Like Brazil, Colombia and Mexico, Venezuela has asked the government to publish the full results of the vote.

The government did not, and the country’s electoral body declared Maduro re-elected for a third term.

Venezuela said in a statement that the decision, which takes effect immediately, is related to evidence that the embassy was used to plan assassination attempts against Maduro and Rodríguez.

Brazil said it was “surprised” to learn that its permit had been revoked. Argentina rejected the “unilateral” decision. Both countries called on Maduro to respect the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.

“Any attempt to invade or abduct asylum seekers who remain in our official residence will be strongly condemned by the international community,” Argentina said in a statement. “Such actions reinforce the belief that fundamental human rights are not respected in Maduro’s Venezuela.”

A Brazilian diplomatic source said on Saturday afternoon that Venezuela had assured Brazil that it would not seize the embassy.

In its statement, Brazil insisted that it would defend Argentina’s interests and remain in detention until Argentina showed another country acceptable to Venezuela.

“In this context, the Brazilian government underlines the inviolability of the facilities of the Argentine diplomatic mission, under the terms of the Vienna Conventions,” he said, adding that six Venezuelan asylum seekers, assets and archives are there.

Reuters reported for the first time that the dispute between South American countries is heating up.

In March, six people sought asylum at the Argentine embassy in Caracas after a prosecutor ordered their arrest on charges including conspiracy. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado denied the accusations against her colleagues.

On Friday night, some opposition members at the Argentine residence reported on X accounts that the building was under surveillance and that there was no electricity. They posted videos showing men in black and patrols from SEBIN, the government’s intelligence agency.

Argentina’s Foreign Ministry asked the International Criminal Court on Friday to issue an arrest warrant against Maduro and other high-ranking government officials over post-election events.