Venezuela issues arrest warrant for opposition leader Gonzalez, AG says
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[September 03, 2024]
By Vivian Sequera and Mayela Armas
CARACAS (Reuters) -Venezuela's attorney general's office said on Monday
a court has issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Edmundo
Gonzalez, accusing him of conspiracy and other crimes amid a dispute
over whether he or President Nicolas Maduro won a July election.
Attorney general Tarek Saab shared a photo of the warrant with Reuters
via a message on the application Telegram.
The issue of an arrest warrant against Gonzalez would amount to a major
escalation in Maduro's government's crackdown against the opposition
following the disputed election.
Venezuela's national electoral authority and its top court have said
Maduro was the victor of the July 28 election with just over half of the
votes, but tallies shared by the opposition show a resounding victory
for Gonzalez.
The warrant follows weeks of comments from top government officials
saying Gonzalez and other members of the opposition should go to jail.
"This man has the nerve to say he doesn't recognize laws, he doesn't
recognize anything. What's up with that? That's unacceptable," Maduro
said in a broadcast on state television. "Citizens agree that laws have
to work and that officials do their job."
The opposition, some Western countries and international bodies like a
United Nations panel of experts have said the vote was not transparent
and demanded publication of full tallies, with some outright decrying
fraud.
A Gonzalez spokesperson said they were awaiting any notification of a
warrant but made no further comment. The opposition has always denied
any wrongdoing.
"They have lost all notion of reality," opposition leader Maria Corina
Machado said on X. "Threatening the President-elect will only achieve
more cohesion and increase the support of Venezuelans and the world for
Edmundo Gonzalez."
The opposition has published what it says are copies of over 80% of
ballot box-level tallies on a public website, while the electoral
council says a cyber attack on election night has prevented its
publication of the full tallies.
The warrant request appeared to be the government's latest salvo in what
the opposition says is a crackdown on dissent.
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Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado and opposition candidate
Edmundo Gonzalez wave as they address supporters, in Caracas,
Venezuela July 30, 2024. REUTERS/Gaby Oraa/File Photo
Saab has also launched criminal probes into Machado and the
opposition vote tally website itself and detentions of opposition
figures and protesters have continued in the weeks since the vote.
Protests have led to at least 27 deaths and some 2,400 arrests.
Gonzalez ignored three summons to testify about the website,
allowing a warrant to potentially be issued for him in that case.
The warrant was issued after prosecutor Luis Ernesto Duenez
requested Gonzalez be arrested for usurpation of functions,
falsification of public documents, instigation to disobey the law,
conspiracy and association, all allegedly committed against the
Venezuela state.
Lawyers consulted by Reuters said that Venezuelan law does not allow
those over 70 to serve sentences in jails, instead requiring house
arrest. Gonzalez, who turned 75 last week, is married and has two
daughters; one lives in Caracas and the other lives in Madrid.
The U.S. has drafted a list of about 60 Venezuelan government
officials and family members who could be sanctioned in the first
punitive measures following the election, two people close to the
matter told Reuters.
Since the vote, the ruling party-controlled national assembly passed
a law tightening rules on NGOs and unions denounced alleged forced
resignations of state employees espousing pro-opposition views.
The warrant request came hours after the Biden administration said
an aircraft used by Maduro had been confiscated in the Dominican
Republic after determining that its purchase violated U.S.
sanctions, a move the Venezuelan government slammed as an act of
"piracy."
(Reporting by Vivian Sequera and Mayela ArmasWriting by Julia Symmes
Cobb and Oliver Griffin; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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