Next, the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, has said the political exile of Venezuela's opposition leader to Spain is the direct result of anti-democratic measures taken by President Nicolaus Mandjuro's government. Edmundo González is waking up to his first morning in the country where he has been granted asylum. This was his plane. As it landed at a military base near Madrid on Sunday, he left Venezuela after taking refuge in the Spanish Embassy in Caracas. He challenged the Venezuelan President, Nicolas Maduro, in July's elections, which the opposition claims it won. He told supporters in an audio message that he was threatened right up until the moment he fled. Here are those comments in full, translated to English.

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Dear friends, first of all, receive a warm and loving welcome from my words of thanks for the expressions of solidarity I received from you. I wanted to inform you that I arrived to Madrid today in the morning. My departure from Caracas was surrounded by episodes of pressure, coercion, and threats that I would not be allowed to leave. I trust that we will soon continue the fight for liberty and the return to democracy in Venezuela. A big hug for everyone..

Well, our reporter, Mimi Swaby, has been monitoring the situation from our newsroom and explained more about Mr. Mr. González's decision to seek political asylum in Spain.

Well, Mr. González, alongside many other opposition figures as well as supporters, have faced huge political crackdown before and after these very contended disputed elections back in July. His life was at risk. This is something that opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, basically said last week in a press conference, saying one of the main challenges for both herself and Mr. González was to stay alive and free, and their lives were basically at risk. These intimidation campaigns launched by the Maduro government against the opposition have cultivated what the UN have called a climate of fear, and have used tactics, including kidnapping and multiple detentions, creating what the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has described as state terrorism. It's not only NGOs, the press, opposition figures, journalists who are at risk here, but also civilians, with nearly 2,000 individuals being detained since the 29th of July when those election results, the highly contended election results, were announced. An arrest warrant was issued against him, and if he was arrested, he would have faced up to life in prison. They're saying that, well, the opposition are saying that he was granted a safe passage from Venezuela to Spain, where he's now been granted political asylum.

He arrived there on Sunday with his wife in Madrid, the capital, but he He was given this safe passage by the Maduro government. This is something that Maduro is very keen to make evident, sharing wide and clear. His vice president, Delci Rodriguez, said that they gave him this safe passage for him to leave for the sake of tranquility and for political peace in the country. Now, the attorney general, Maduro's government as well, Tarek Saab, went further saying that he has been given the opportunity to abandon the national territory Spain would receive him happily. Now, Spain have really stood firmly in their position against Maduro, not recognizing him as the valid winner of those elections and really backing the opposition. The opposition are now split geographically, but united nonetheless.