Photo: Ariana Cubillos Associated Press Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, May 16, 2024, in Caracas
Javier Tovar – Agence France-Presse in Caracas
Published yesterday at 22:33
- Americas
“No asylum request”: Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the opposition candidate who claims victory in the presidential election on July 28, is not considering seeking asylum abroad despite the sword of Damocles of the arrest warrant issued against him on Monday by the Venezuelan justice system and rejected by a large part of the international community.
“No asylum application has been made” to any embassy, his lawyer, José Vicente Haro, told the press on Tuesday. “This is an issue that has not been raised by the family or Mr. Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.” »
The United States, the European Union and nine Latin American countries on Tuesday rejected an arrest warrant for the former candidate, who has not been seen in public since July 30, with the UN saying it was “following developments with concern.”
At the request of the prosecution, a terrorism court ordered the arrest of the 75-year-old diplomat as part of investigations for “disobedience to the laws,” “conspiracy,” “usurpation of functions” and “sabotage.”
Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia did not respond to three summonses from the courts that wanted to hear him about the opposition website that gave him the victory. He justified himself on social networks by referring to the lack of “independence” of the justice system and a prosecutor who was a “political accuser.”
His lawyer clarified on Tuesday that Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia had “nothing to do with the whole process of collecting copies, the minutes [of the polling stations], the digitization of these minutes and their uploading to the website. It was a civic action by the polling station scrutineers.”
Socialist President Nicolas Maduro, whose victory was validated by the Supreme Court on August 22, was declared the winner with 52% of the vote by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which did not make public the minutes of the polling stations, claiming to be the victim of computer hacking.
200% Deposit Bonus up to €3,000 180% First Deposit Bonus up to $20,000Such an attack is considered implausible by the opposition and many observers, who see it as a maneuver by the government to avoid disclosing the exact count. According to the opposition, which published the minutes provided by its poll workers, Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia won more than 60% of the vote.
Hardening
A large part of the international community, led by the United States, does not recognize Mr. Maduro’s re-election, and has rejected the arrest warrant issued Monday.
“This is yet another example of Maduro’s attempts to hold on to power by force and to refuse to recognize that Mr. Gonzalez won a majority of the vote,” added John Kirby, speaking on behalf of the National Security Council.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil responded to the US position as “an accomplice of the criminal gang that tried to set the country on fire […] You are now throwing tantrums when justice targets the organizers of the violence […] Respect our country and our sovereignty, we will continue to move forward despite your hatred and neocolonial pretensions.”
After the announcement of Mr Maduro’s re-election, spontaneous demonstrations left 27 dead and 192 injured, while some 2,400 people were arrested, according to official sources.
The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, also “categorically” rejected the arrest warrant and urged “the Venezuelan authorities to respect his freedom, his integrity and the rights of Man”.
In the same vein, nine Latin American countries — Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay — said they “unequivocally and absolutely reject the arrest warrant,” according to a joint statement.
Left-wing allies Brazil and Colombia, which host millions of Venezuelan refugees, expressed their “deep concern” on Tuesday evening, saying that the arrest warrant “makes it difficult to find a peaceful solution.” A hardening of the positions of Presidents Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva and Gustavo Petro, who had so far multiplied their efforts at negotiation.
Shortly before the announcement of the launch of the arrest warrant, Washington announced on Monday that it had seized a plane used by Mr. Maduro and “illegally acquired for 13 million dollars through a front company.” Venezuela described the seizure as an act of “piracy.”
“There are a number of things that we have asked him (Maduro) to do, to stop repressing dissent, to release the polling records, which he still hasn't done, and to put Venezuela back on the path to democracy,” State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said Tuesday.
“He has not shown a willingness to do that and that's why […] we are looking at a range of options,” he added.