Venezuela's Public Prosecutor's Office has issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Edmundo González, accusing him of conspiracy and other crimes related to the recent presidential election.
According to Breitbart News, this move is part of a continuing crackdown on dissidents by the regime of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro following the controversial July 28 election.
The 75-year-old González, a former diplomat, was the sole opposition candidate allowed on the ballot in the election that Maduro claims to have won. The arrest warrant, requested by a court with jurisdiction over terrorism cases, cites alleged crimes, including disobedience, conspiracy, usurpation of functions, and sabotage.
The National Electoral Center, which is loyal to Maduro, declared the socialist leader the winner of the July 28 election, granting him a third consecutive six-year term. However, the electoral authorities have refused to publish voter data or any documentation to corroborate Maduro's claimed victory.
In response, the Venezuelan opposition published copies of more than 80 percent of the election's vote tallies on a website. These tallies suggest that González actually defeated Maduro by a significant margin. The opposition and international community have heavily contested Maduro's claimed victory based on this evidence.
Despite the controversy, Venezuela's Supreme Justice Tribunal, which is stacked with Maduro loyalists, upheld the dictator's victory in late August. The court claimed to have reviewed voter data that the electoral authorities refuse to make public.
The Public Prosecutor's Office called González to testify three times in the past week regarding the opposition's website hosting the vote tallies. González publicly refused to attend these summons, accusing the office of wanting to subject him to an interview without specifying his condition and pre-qualifying crimes he claims he did not commit.
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab was criticized by González for behaving "like a political accuser." González stated, "He condemns in advance and now promotes a summons without guarantees of independence and due process."
Opposition leader María Corina Machado, who supported González's campaign, denounced the arrest warrant through social media. Machado accused the Maduro regime of having "lost all sense of reality" and stated that threatening the President-elect would only unite the opposition further.
The governments of Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay released a joint statement rejecting the arrest warrant against González. They denounced it as political persecution and an attempt to disregard Venezuela's popular will.
EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell also condemned the arrest warrant, urging Venezuelan authorities to respect González's freedom, integrity, and human rights. Borrell stated:
Enough of the repression and harassment of the opposition and civil society. The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected.
The Maduro regime's crackdown on nationwide protests against his claimed victory has resulted in over 25 deaths, approximately 200 injuries, and the arbitrary arrest of 2,400 individuals, including 129 minors. This ongoing suppression of dissent has drawn widespread international criticism.
In conclusion, the arrest warrant issued against opposition leader Edmundo González has escalated tensions in Venezuela following the disputed July 28 presidential election. The Maduro regime's actions have been widely condemned by opposition figures and international governments. The situation underscores the ongoing political crisis in Venezuela, with the opposition and international community rejecting Maduro's claimed victory and calling for respect for democratic processes and human rights.
