Opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez flees Venezuela for Spain
- Venezuelan opposition politician Leopoldo Lopez abandons Spanish ambassador’s residence
- A Spanish government source said his arrival in Spain, where his wife now lives, was ‘imminent’
Key Venezuelan opposition figure Leopoldo Lopez has left the Spanish diplomatic compound in Caracas where he had been staying for more than a year and fled the country.
“Today ... Leopoldo Lopez leaves the Spanish embassy in Venezuela for international territory to promote new actions in the fight for the freedom of Venezuela,” Voluntad Popular (Popular Will), the party founded and led by Lopez, said in a statement on Saturday.
Lopez tweeted a message to the Venezuelan public late Saturday.
“Venezuelans, this decision has not been easy, but rest assured that you have this servant to fight [for you] from any space. We will not rest and we will continue working day and night to achieve the freedom that all us Venezuelans deserve,” Lopez wrote.
The 49-year-old added that details of “the actions we propose to carry out” to achieve that goal would be shared “in the next few days”.
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The Spanish Foreign Ministry confirmed in a tweet that the opposition figure left the Spanish ambassador’s residence, where he had been staying since April 2019, of his own will.
