The Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo López, 49, is already in Madrid after landing this afternoon at Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport.
The arrival in Spain was awaited with great expectation since it was learned this Saturday that López had left the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas, where he had been sheltered since April 30, 2019. The opponent of Chavismo has not been seen by his He has left the Madrid airport and is already at his home, as family sources have indicated to EL PAÍS.
A large group of journalists had been waiting at terminal 4 of the Spanish capital airport since early in the morning, but the wait was useless, since they did not leave through the usual passenger door despite arriving on a commercial flight.
His wife Lilian Tintori, their three children, and his father, MEP Leopoldo López Gil, live in the Spanish capital.
No member of his family, who has kept a low profile, has however gone to Barajas.
In his first message on Twitter after knowing his departure from the country, López said this Saturday that it had not been an easy decision and announced that in the next few days In the next few days he would announce “the actions that we propose to carry out in favor of freedom of our town ”.
Venezuelans, this decision has not been easy, but rest assured that you have 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.
- Leopoldo López (@leopoldolopez) October 25, 2020
The dissident, founder of the Voluntad Popular party, has spent three years in the Ramo Verde military prison, of the 14 he was sentenced to for his participation in the 2014 protests against the Chavista regime of Nicolás Maduro.
The opposition's departure from the country occurs a month before the legislative elections and coincides with an imminent change of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas, Jesús Silva, who gave protection to the politician in his residence.
However, sources from the López family have assured EL PAÍS that "he has left voluntarily" and there has been no pressure from the Government of Spain, far from it ".