López left the Spanish embassy in Caracas and flew to Colombia to catch a flight to Madrid

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López arrives in Spain

photo_camera PHOTO - Leopoldo López, opositor venezolano

Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López arrives in Madrid on Sunday after leaving the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas, Jesús Silva, sources close to the political leader told Efe.

López left Venezuela on Friday after leaving the diplomatic headquarters, where he had been a guest since 30 April 2019, after participating in a failed military uprising with the president of the Venezuelan Parliament, Juan Guaidó, who is recognised as the country's leader by some 50 countries.

This Saturday, Leopoldo López Gil, the father of the opposition member, already announced that he was out of Venezuela and would "soon" be arriving in Spain, where his family lives, but throughout the day rumours of all kinds spread, including that he might not have left the country, despite the fact that his Twitter account posted some messages that many Internet users attributed to other people.

"Venezuelans, this decision has not been easy, but rest assured that you can count on this server to fight from any space. We will not rest and we will continue working day and night to achieve the freedom that all Venezuelans deserve," López wrote on the social network.

"As always, from the streets with the people, or in a military prison, from an unjust court or persecuted in an embassy, all our time and energy will be to be useful to the Venezuelan people in the conquest of their freedom", added López.

Despite the messages, doubts increased when, at night, members of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin) searched a residential building where diplomatic and Spanish security force personnel reside, apparently in search of López, several eyewitnesses told Efe.

López was arrested in 2014 and sentenced to 14 years in prison, accused of leading the violence in the anti-government marches that year.

Five years later, after a tour of the Ramo Verde prison under house arrest, he arrived at the residence of Ambassador Silva, where he remained as a guest until Saturday.

From there, he acknowledged in an interview with Efe, the only one granted during his stay at the diplomatic headquarters, that a military intervention in Venezuela is an option that remains present among the opposition to the government of Nicolás Maduro, because it is a legal alternative provided for in the Constitution.

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