In yet another show of authoritarian power, Venezuela’s judiciary, controlled by judges loyal to dictator Nicolás Maduro, has issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Edmundo González, who ran in the July presidential election and was declared the winner. The warrant, requested by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, was made public on Monday, 2.
According to information from G1, a Brazilian news portal, González faces charges including the usurpation of electoral authority, forgery of official documents, incitement to illegal activities, sabotage of systems, and criminal association. This arrest warrant formalizes the regime’s accusations against him.
Maduro’s crackdown on González is widely seen as a desperate move by the embattled Chavista dictator to cling to power, even if it means resorting to fraud.
Venezuelan prosecutors claim that Edmundo González ignored three subpoenas to testify. Both the judiciary and the prosecutor’s office are aligned with Maduro’s regime.
Attorney General Tarek Saab stated that the subpoenas aimed to gather González’s testimony regarding the publication of printed electoral reports on a website. This publication allowed the world to see that the Venezuelan opposition had won the election, a result that Maduro refuses to acknowledge.
Over 80% of all documents generated by the voting machines were published by the opposition group on the website. Opposition leader María Corina Machado, who had previously criticized the arrest warrant request against González, once again condemned the judiciary’s actions under Maduro’s control. She stated:
“Maduro has completely lost touch with reality. The arrest warrant issued by the regime to threaten President-elect Edmundo González crosses a new line that only strengthens our movement’s resolve. Venezuelans and democracies worldwide are more united than ever in our quest for freedom.”
The arrest warrant orders that González be immediately placed at the disposal of the Venezuelan Public Prosecutor’s Office upon his apprehension.
Maduro’s allies claim that the documents presented by the opposition are false. However, Venezuelan authorities have yet to release the so-called genuine electoral reports, despite requests from countries like the US and Brazil. The United Nations has affirmed the security of the documents released by the opposition.
The arrest warrant against González coincides with the United States’ seizure of a Maduro regime airplane in the Dominican Republic on the same day, as reported by TGP.
