CARACAS, Sept 9, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia -- who insists he, not strongman Nicolas Maduro, is Venezuela's legitimate president-elect -- fled for exile in Spain Sunday and vowed to "continue the fight" for freedom and democracy.

Gonzalez Urrutia arrived in Madrid after weeks in hiding in the crisis-torn South American country. The opposition says it can prove he won the July 28 elections in which Maduro claimed a victory that has been widely disputed.

Shortly after touching down on a military plane, the 75-year-old's press team distributed an audio message in which he said he was "confident that soon we will continue the fight to achieve freedom and the recovery of democracy in Venezuela."

The choice for Gonzalez Urrutia to leave was made because "his life was in danger," opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on X earlier, citing a "brutal wave of repression" in the election aftermath.

Gonzalez Urrutia had replaced Machado on the ballot at the last minute after she was prevented from running by institutions loyal to Maduro, accused by observers of human rights violations.

Venezuela's regime-loyal CNE electoral authority declared Maduro the election winner, but the opposition cried foul and much of the international community has refused to accept the result without seeing a detailed vote breakdown, which has not been forthcoming.

Authorities issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez Urrutia, who Maduro has said belongs behind bars along with Machado. She remains in hiding, save for leading a handful of anti-Maduro protests since the disputed vote.

Gonzalez Urrutia left Venezuela Sunday after ignoring three successive summons to appear before prosecutors, having argued that doing so risked his freedom.

Machado said on X that "the increasing threats, subpoenas, arrest warrants and even attempts at blackmail and coercion against (Gonzalez Urrutia) show that the regime has no scruples or limits in its obsession to silence him and try to bring him down."

She added that "faced with this brutal reality, it is necessary for our cause to preserve his freedom, his integrity and his life."

- 'A hero' -

Madrid said it would grant asylum to the retired diplomat.

He arrived on a Spanish military plane at the Torrejon air base near Madrid with his spouse around 4.00 pm local time (1400 GMT), according to a foreign ministry statement.

Speaking at a socialist party meeting on Saturday, Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described Gonzalez Urrutia as "a hero who Spain will not abandon."

Venezuela's vice president Delcy Rodriguez said on social media that Caracas had agreed to the safe passage of Gonzalez Urrutia, who had taken "refuge voluntarily at the Spanish embassy in Caracas a few days ago."

Attorney General Tarek William Saab later told journalists Gonzalez Urrutia's departure marked the close of a piece of "farcical theater... fatefully named 'To the End'," referring to the opposition's post-election fightback slogan.

He did not say whether the investigation against the opposition figure was now closed.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Gonzalez Urrutia "remains the best hope for democracy" in Venezuela, adding that his departure was "the direct result of the anti-democratic measures that Nicolas Maduro has unleashed."

The European Union's foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell, meanwhile, demanded that Venezuelan authorities "end repression, arbitrary arrests and harassment against members of the opposition and civil society, as well as release all political prisoners."

- Disputed election results -

Saab had opened an investigation against Gonzalez Urrutia for crimes related to his insistence that he was the rightful victor of the July poll.

Charges include usurpation of public functions, forgery of a public document, incitement to disobedience, sabotage, and association with organized crime.

He risks a jail sentence of 30 years.

The charges stem from the opposition decision to publish its own tally of polling station-level ballots cast, which it says showed Gonzalez Urrutia winning about two-thirds of votes.

Venezuela's electoral authority has said it cannot provide a breakdown of the election results, blaming a cyber attack on its systems.

Observers have said there is no evidence of such hacking.

Post-election violence in Venezuela has claimed 27 lives and left 192 people injured, while the government says it has arrested some 2,400 people.

After Venezuela's last election, in 2018, Maduro also claimed victory amid widespread accusations of fraud. With the support of the military and other institutions, he managed to cling to power despite international sanctions.

Maduro has led the oil-rich but cash-poor country since 2013.

His tenure has seen GDP drop 80 percent in a decade, prompting more than seven million of the country's 30 million citizens to flee.