US states demand warrant for Maduro's arrest
In Venezuela, President Maduro is declared the winner despite fraud allegations. Several people die in protests against the results. An American alliance is planning to request an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court. The court has been investigating Maduro's government for some time.
The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, plans to request an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court in The Hague against Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro. "It's time for justice," he said at an emergency meeting of the organization in Washington on Wednesday. Almagro holds Venezuela's authoritarian leader responsible for the violence following the controversial election on Sunday, in which Maduro was declared the winner despite fraud allegations.
Several people have died in the protests, according to independent organizations. Before the election, Maduro had warned of a bloodbath and a civil war in the South American country if he was not re-elected. It's ironic that Maduro is now carrying out this bloodbath, Almagro said. He sees intent, deceit, and cruelty at play. "It's time to file charges and request an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court against the main culprits, including Maduro," Almagro wrote on the X platform.
OAS can't find common ground
"We will request this arrest warrant," he also said at the meeting in Washington. The International Criminal Court has been investigating Maduro's government for years over suspected crimes against humanity in the country. The government in Caracas rejects the allegations. At the emergency meeting of the OAS, the Permanent Council of the organization could not reach a common position on the situation in Venezuela. A resolution calling for, among other things, the publication of detailed election results and a guarantee of freedom of assembly did not pass. 17 member states voted for the draft, 11 abstained, and 5 countries did not send a representative to the meeting in Washington. The OAS, founded in 1948 and headquartered in Washington, is supposed to strengthen peace on the American continent, but tensions have arisen within the alliance from time to time. Maduro's government declared Venezuela's withdrawal from the organization unilaterally years ago and accused it of serving "imperialism."
Opposition politician calls for further protests
Meanwhile, opposition politician María Corina Machado is calling for further protests against Maduro. "Now it's up to all of us to make the truth, which we all know, prevail," Machado wrote on Wednesday evening on the X online service, referring to what she sees as the clear victory of opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia. "Let's mobilize. We will succeed," wrote Machado, who was banned from participating in the presidential election and supported Urrutia. The opposition has published large datasets after the election, from which they claim a clear victory of their candidate Urrutia against Maduro.
- At the emergency meeting of the Organization of American States (OAS), the Secretary General, Luis Almagro, stated his intention to request an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court in The Hague against Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro, holding him accountable for the violence following the controversial election.
- Almagro, during the meeting, also emphasized the need to file charges against Maduro and other main culprits responsible for the alleged crimes against humanity, citing intent, deceit, and cruelty, and called for the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant.
