caracas/bogota veteran venezuelan opposition leader antonio ledezma house arrest since 2015 allege coup plot escape across border colombia friday late fly spain 2018 presidential election loom array major venezuelan opposition figure exile detention bar hold office say maduro turn venezuela dictatorship government accuse join force u.s.-led global plot topple ledezma best-known detain opponent leftist president nicolas maduro leopoldo lopez spearhead street protest maduro 2014 lead months violence 43 deaths spain today feel free say madrid barajas airport arrive early hours saturday cheer small crowd include wife two daughters already spain supporters chant venezuelan anthem let permit venezuela die hand also say add would soon meet spanish prime minister mariano rajoy 62-year-old former caracas metropolitan mayor say go past 29 police army control clandestine overland journey keep secret love ones ask wife daughters understand suffer long hours anguish without know tell reporters colombian border town cucuta cross bridge san antonio venezuela decision alone welcome freedom tweet former colombian president andres pastrana close venezuela opposition families jail activists ledezma mock maduro vampire accuse officials help violent hardliners include dissident military officer plot topple president via air strike ledezma say charge trump hope never send back keep vampire maduro say friday even people madrid careful night vampire go madrid board private plane bogota ledezma say plan global pilgrimage fight political freedom venezuela thank colombia government also recently give asylum another high-profile venezuelan dissident former state prosecutor luisa ortega time maduro step aside allow transition government say ledezma maduro keep torture venezuelan people kill venezuelans hunger opec nation 30 million people suffer fourth year brutal recession high inflation world shortages food medicine many people skip meals suffer preventable illnesses government supporters long vilify ledezma support brief 2002 coup accuse corruption state media repeatedly show video jail student radical laud old fox ... politician support resistance ledezma along another opposition leader maria corina machado part militant wing venezuela opposition coalition oppose plan new political dialogue opposition government schedule early december dominican republic leave flag maria corina machado trust completely ledezma tell reporters ledezma caracas mayoralty 2008 function fund quickly transfer new pro-government office upstage young opposition leaders ledezma view future presidential candidate intelligence agents take office caracas february 2015. originally hold ramo verde military prison grant house arrest machado tell reporters ledezma increase pressure authorities face threats return ramo verde due opposition political dialogue believe real negotiations ones lead exit dictatorship tell reporters venezuela opposition leader ledezma flee spain