- Warrant issued for apprehension of opposition contenders in Venezuela
Following Venezuela's controversial presidential election in August, marked by allegations of fraud, an arrest warrant has been issued against opposition figure Edmundo González Urrutia. The ex-diplomat is being charged with usurping authority, encouraging law disobedience, conspiring, and sabotage, as per a Caracas court's decision handling terrorism cases, upon the prosecutor's office's request.
Post the August 1st election, the obedient electoral commission announced incumbent president Nicolás Maduro as the victor, though the fully decrypted results have yet to be published. Opponents contest the election's integrity, claiming victory for González, while Maduro was said to have gotten only 30%.
González's whereabouts remain elusive since he appeared publicly at a Caracas demonstration on August 3rd. Incessantly addressing his supporters via videos, he has ignored three summons from the Public Prosecutor's Office.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado condemned the warrant, calling it "detachment from reality." "By menacing the elected president, they only fuel closer unity among Venezuelans and global support for Edmundo González," she mentioned on the X platform.
The opposition claims access to detailed results lists from over 80% of the polling stations, suggesting González received 67% of the votes, while Maduro only managed 30%. U.S.A. and various Latin American nations acknowledge González's election victory, while the European Union and the Organization of American States have cast doubt on the official results.
Maduro, after the warrant, stated on Venezuelan television, "Nobody is beyond the law. The Public Prosecutor's Office summoned him three times, and he refused to appear. He disregards the Public Prosecutor's Office. What type of country is this? González Urrutia boasts of ignoring the laws."
International criticism of the warrant
Several countries in the region reprimanded the Venezuelan authorities. The Argentine Foreign Ministry declared, "The Argentine Republic rejects the arrest warrant issued by the prosecutor's office of the Maduro dictatorship against the presidential election winner on August 1st, Edmundo González Urrutia, and alerts the international community about the radicalization wave orchestrated by the regime intending to criminalize democratic forces in Venezuela."
The Chilean Foreign Ministry wrote, "The government of Chile condemns any kind of repression against the opponents of the dictatorial regime in Venezuela."
Guaidó also in the crosshairs
Maduro's re-election in 2018 was not recognized by numerous nations. Juan Guaidó, who was then the parliamentary president, proclaimed himself interim president the following year but failed to garner support in the country, mainly due to the military's loyalty to Maduro, allowing him to endure the protests.
A warrant was issued against Guaidó in October 2020. He's allegedly charged with treason, usurpation of authority, and embezzlement. Now living in exile in the U.S., he was accused by the Public Prosecutor's Office of committing these acts.
Struggling with misgovernance, corruption, and international sanctions, Venezuela stands as a nation where over 80% of the population lies below the poverty line, with UN estimations suggesting more than seven million people have fled the country since 2020 due to poverty and violence.
US seizes Maduro's plane
The U.S. authorities confiscated a plane belonging to Maduro right before issuing an arrest warrant for González due to sanctions breaches. The Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft was seized in the Dominican Republic and transported to Florida, announced the U.S. Justice Department in Washington. Attorney General Merrick Garland stated, "The aircraft was illegally purchased for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the U.S., to be employed by Nicolás Maduro and his cronies."
The Venezuelan government criticized the seizure, accusing "the U.S. authorities of endorsing a criminal practice that can only be characterized as piracy, illegally seizing a plane belonging to the President of the Republic and justifying this with the unilateral and illegal coercive measures they impose worldwide," stated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Caracas.
- Despite the arrest warrant issued against him, Edmundo González Urrutia's whereabouts remain unknown, as he has ignored multiple summons from the Venezuelan Public Prosecutor's Office.
- In response to the international criticism of the warrant against Edmundo González Urrutia, the Argentine Foreign Ministry publicly condemned the arrest warrant issued by the Venezuelan prosecutor's office, alleging a radicalization wave aimed at criminalizing democratic forces in Venezuela.
