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STORY: Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez has fled to Spain to seek asylum…

largely extinguishing hope for political change, voters say, as long-time President Nicolas Maduro shrugs off international criticism about July’s disputed election.

Spain's foreign minister said in a statement Gonzalez and his wife were flown to a military base in a Spanish Air Force plane.

His daughter Carolina Gonzalez was seen driving out of the base over the weekend, where a small group of supporters gathered.

“They forced him to flee. This only confirms that Venezuela is a dictatorship in which it is not possible to live in. If you don't agree with the regime you have to leave or you might get killed.”

The dramatic exit of the 75-year-old Gonzalez came a week after Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant for him, accusing him of conspiracy and other crimes.

Democracies around the world have criticized the vote but Maduro has dismissed all assertions that he lost.

Venezuelan exiles gathered outside Spain's parliament on Tuesday as lawmakers debated a symbolic motion from the main opposition party to recognize Gonzalez as the winner.

While the motion is expected to be approved on Wednesday, Spain's government speaker said the country will keep aligned with the European Union to improve the democracy in Venezuela.