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Leopoldo López had been confined in Venezuela for more than six years. It is not clear how he escaped from the Spanish ambassador’s residence in the capital Caracas to join his family in Madrid.
Venezuelan opposition politician Leopoldo López arrived in Madrid on Sunday, the Spanish Foreign Ministry said.
On Saturday it was announced that López left the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. He had been locked up in the residence for over a year, avoiding house arrest for his role in the anti-government protests.
In a statement, Spain’s Foreign Ministry said López’s decision to leave the Spanish embassy in Venezuela was “personal and voluntary.”
López, who founded the Social Democratic Popular Will Party, previously said in a series of tweets that he had left Venezuela but did not reveal his location.
“Venezuelans, this decision has not been easy, but rest assured that you can count on this server to fight from anywhere,” Lopez said. “We will not rest and we will continue working day and night to achieve the freedom that all Venezuelans deserve.”
López was jailed in 2014 for leading violent protests against embattled President Nicolás Maduro and was released under house arrest in 2017.
López endorsed the internationally recognized interim president Juan Guaidó, who assumed the presidency following Maduro’s re-election campaign in 2018 that was widely considered illegitimate.
In April 2019, López backed Guaidó’s attempt at a military revolt against Maduro. After the uprising failed, he sought refuge in the residence of the Spanish ambassador.
López’s wife, Lilian Tintori, fled to Spain that May.
How did López escape?
There are several reports from sources on how López evaded a strong security presence and fled Venezuela. Two people familiar with the matter said he traveled through Colombia.
In a message to Maduro on Twitter, Guaidó said that his political mentor had left Venezuela “evading its repressive apparatus.”
Maduro’s government condemns the escape
“The head of the Spanish diplomatic mission in Venezuela was the main organizer and confessed accomplice of the … escape from the Venezuelan territory of the criminal Leopoldo López,” the government of President Nicolás Maduro said in a statement.
Following López’s departure, intelligence agents arrested four Venezuelans working with López in Caracas, including two of his bodyguards, according to Ana Leonor Acosta, a local lawyer who said she was hired to defend the four individuals.
