A judicial order has been issued for the detention of Venezuelan opposition contender González Urrutia.
The legal authorities had warned on a Friday that they would issue an arrest warrant for González Urrutia if he failed to comply with his third summon for an investigation meeting. Unfortunately, Urrutia chose not to attend the scheduled appointment.
The authorities had given this summons following the controversial publication of what they deemed false election results for the presidential election held on July 28. The opposition party was the one responsible for this publication.
The election, which faced international criticism, was declared a victory by the largely government-supporting electoral commission for incumbent Nicolás Maduro. However, the opposition strongly believed that their chosen candidate had emerged victorious and published results to support this claim. Ever since the election, Urrutia had not been seen in public, instead choosing to hide away.
Since the end of July, there have been 27 fatalities and 192 injuries in protests against Maduro's re-election. The authorities claim that 2400 people have been arrested in these protests. Maduro even accused Urrutia and opposition politician Maria Corina Machado of being responsible for the violence that occurred during these protests.
In his weekly television program on Monday, Maduro discussed the arrest warrant for Urrutia, stating: "No one in this country is exempt from the law or the institutions."
So far, the USA, the EU, and several South American countries have declined to recognize Maduro's officially announced win in the election and are demanding transparent election results. However, the Venezuelan electoral authority claims that these results cannot be disclosed due to a cyber attack. Observers have pointed out that there is no concrete evidence to support this claim.
Maduro has been in power in Venezuela since 2013. The USA and numerous other countries had rejected Maduro's officially announced win in the 2018 election as well. The USA has been imposing sanctions on the country since 2005.
In connection with these sanctions, the USA seized Maduro's presidential plane on Monday. According to the US Department of Justice, the plane was purchased illegally by a shell company for $13 million and then shipped out of the USA to be used by Maduro and his allies, bypassing the US sanctions against Maduro. The seizure was described as "an essential step to ensure that Maduro continues to feel the consequences of his mismanagement in Venezuela." Maduro himself referred to it as "piracy."
The Dominican Republic clarified that they had no involvement in the US investigation. The Dominican authorities merely responded to an "international legal assistance request" from the USA. The plane had been in Venezuela for maintenance.
The authorities expressed their intention to issue an arrest warrant for other individuals if they also failed to comply with their summonses, citing the legal consequences of non-compliance. Urrutia's situation served as a warning to these individuals, highlighting the seriousness of the legal proceedings.
