A Venezuelan judge ordered the arrest on Monday of opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who disputed last month’s elections against the incumbent, Nicolas Maduro, who claimed victory.
Tarek William Saab, the attorney general of Venezuela, said a court issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez, accusing him of conspiracy and other crimes. The arrest warrant is the next step in the pair’s feud, which has divided the nation.
“Maduro has lost all touch with reality,” opposition leader Maria Corina Machado posted on X. “The arrest warrant issued by the regime to threaten President-Elect Edmundo Gonzalez crosses a new line that only strengthens the resolve of our movement. Venezuelans and democracies around the world are more united than ever in our quest for freedom.”
The United States has determined that Gonzalez won the election, not Maduro.
The warrant is related to an investigation into an effort led by Gonzalez attempting to show the opposition won the election handily. The opposition gathered voting receipts from thousands of polling locations, which, after several independent reviews of the data, showed Maduro likely lost.
Venezuela has refused to release precinct-level election results, possibly indicating the government’s electoral cover-up in addition to prosecution of opposition leaders. Maduro’s continued insistence to stay in power could be enduring given his control over the country, though the public has protested his doing so.
Maduro has tightened his grip on the country with a ruling from Venezuela’s Supreme Justice Tribunal ratifying his reelection for another six years.
Gonzalez has been called to appear before prosecutors but has remained in hiding for over a month. If he did appear, he would likely be arrested. The next step after the warrant appears to be a search for Gonzalez and his eventual arrest, which would likely cause an uproar.
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It could also cause the U.S. to seek further action against Maduro as many other countries look to do the same. Maduro hasn’t shown much willingness to cede any ground to Gonzalez’s supporters, and the arrest warrant seemingly doubles down on that.
U.S. authorities recently attempted to turn up the heat on Maduro with the seizure of an airplane linked to him in the Dominican Republic.