The opposition leader leaves, seeks asylum in Spain

The Venezuelan government has said that opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González has left the country, seeking asylum in Spain.

González had been in hiding while an arrest warrant was issued after the opposition disputed the result of July's presidential election - in which the government-controlled National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Nicolás Maduro the winner.

Venezuela's vice president, Delcy Rodríguez, said in a social media post that after "voluntarily" seeking refuge at the Spanish embassy in Caracas a few days ago, Gonzalez asked the Spanish government for political asylum.

She added that Caracas had agreed to his safe passage and that he had left.

Spain's Foreign Minister José Manuel Albares said González had left the country at his own request and on a Spanish Air Force plane.

He added that the government of Spain was committed to the political rights of all Venezuelans.

A lawyer for Mr González confirmed to the AFP news agency that he had left the country for Spain, but gave no further details.

While he is gone, security forces in Venezuela have surrounded the Argentine embassy in the capital Caracas.

Six political opponents of President Maduro have taken refuge there. The country's Foreign Ministry claimed that terrorist acts were being carried out within it.

Venezuela has been in a political crisis since authorities declared President Maduro the winner of the July 28 election.

The opposition claimed it had evidence that González had won by a comfortable margin, and uploaded detailed online polls that suggested González beat Maduro in a landslide.

A number of countries, including the United States, the European Union and some Latin American countries, have refused to recognize President Maduro as the winner without releasing detailed voting data from Caracas.

President Maduro's government has arrested more than 2,400 people since the election, creating what the UN has called "a climate of fear".