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Venezuela's parliament calls for severing ties with Spain

The decision came after the Congress of Deputies of the Spanish Parliament earlier supported the idea of recognizing leader of the Venezuelan opposition Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the winner of the presidential elections in the Bolivarian Republic

CARACAS, October 9. /TASS/. Members of the Venezuelan National Assembly have decided to propose to the country’s President Nicolas Maduro to break diplomatic relations with Spain, the local TV channel Telesur reported.

"To call on the country’s executive power to promptly consider breaking diplomatic and trade relations with the Kingdom of Spain. And also [to discuss] the adoption of measures in response to the gross interference by the Spanish Congress of Deputies against Venezuelan institutions [of power]," the text of the document adopted by the MPs says.

It is noted that the decision of the parliamentarians came after on September 11 the Congress of Deputies (lower house) of the Spanish Parliament supported the idea of recognizing leader of the Venezuelan opposition Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the winner of the presidential elections in the Bolivarian Republic.

On July 28, Venezuela held elections of the head of state. As Venezuela’s National Electoral Council announced after processing almost 97% of the protocols, 51.95% of citizens voted for Maduro, and 43.18% for Gonzalez. One of the opposition leaders, Maria Corina Machado, said on the day of the vote that Gonzalez’s team was not going to recognize his defeat in the elections. The next day, protests and riots broke out in the center of Caracas, during which, according to the Venezuelan authorities, more than 2,200 people were detained for arson and other offenses.

On September 7, Gonzalez left Venezuela, requesting political asylum in Spain. The following day, he arrived at the Torrejon de Ardoz air base outside Madrid. In early October, Gonzalez announced his intention to return to Venezuela in order to "assume presidency."

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