Opposition leader Machado vows to remain in Venezuela amid political turmoil

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado vowed Monday to "stay in Venezuela" a day after her colleague and presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia went into an asylum in Spain claiming post-election repression.

"I have decided to stay in Venezuela and take part in the struggle from here while he (Gonzalez Urrutia) does it from abroad," Machado told reporters in Caracas.

Gonzalez Urrutia arrived in Madrid late Sunday after weeks in hiding following July 28 elections that the opposition insists he won but which were claimed by incumbent strongman Nicolas Maduro.

"We all know that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia is the elected president of Venezuela... whether he is in Venezuela or anywhere else in the world," she said.

After his arrival in Spain, Gonzalez Urrutia said he had decided to leave Venezuela "so that things can change and so we can build a new stage for Venezuela."

Machado had said he left the country because "his life was in danger."

Gonzalez Urrutia had replaced Machado on the ballot at the last minute after she was prevented from running by institutions loyal to Maduro, accused by observers of human rights violations.

Venezuela's regime-loyal CNE electoral authority declared Maduro the election winner but the opposition cried foul and much of the international community has refused to accept the result.