Venezuela opposition’s Lopez leaves Chile embassy for Spanish consulate

SANTIAGO, Chile – Venezuelan opposition figure Leopoldo Lopez left the Chilean embassy in Caracas and moved to the city’s Spanish consulate on Tuesday, April 20, after earlier being freed from house arrest, Chile’s foreign minister Roberto Ampuero said.

Lopez, his wife, and one of his 3 sons had been welcomed to the Chilean embassy as guests “under the diplomatic protection of Chile,” and none of them were there to seek asylum, Ampuero told reporters in Santiago.

“Lilian Tintori and Leopold Lopez – who are of Spanish descent – moved to the Spanish embassy,” Ampuero later said in a statement on Twitter. “They made a personal decision.”

In other developments in Caracas, Venezuela:

• Rioting breaks out in Venezuela amid ‘attempted coup’
• Maduro declares victory over ‘coup’ plotters, announces ‘criminal prosecutions’ for ‘rebellion’
• Maduro denies alleged plans to flee Venezuela

Lopez, a key opponent of President Nicolas Maduro, emerged earlier Tuesday from two years of house arrest to join opposition leader Juan Guaido at a demonstration outside a military barracks with a small group of soldiers

Lopez had been accused in 2014 of inciting violent protests against the government and began his 14-year sentence in 2017.

Five other Venezuelan judges – elected by the opposition-dominated congress – were also taken in at the Chilean embassy, but managed to leave the country and are currently in Chile under political asylum.

Chile is part of the Lima Group, created in 2017 as a response to Venezuela’s political and economic crisis, which on Tuesday called for an emergency meeting set for Friday. – Rappler.com