Who is Edmundo González, Venezuela’s opposition candidate for whom an arrest warrant has been issued?
Edmundo González Urrutia stands accused of “usurpation of functions,” “forgery of public documents,” “instigation to disobedience of laws,” “conspiracy,” “sabotage to damage systems,” and “association.”
A Venezuelan court issued an arrest warrant on Monday against presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia after accepting the Public Prosecutor’s Office’s request against the opposition candidate. The opposition leader has been involved in Venezuelan politics for over two decades. In the early 2000s, before the revolution that brought Hugo Chavez to power, González Urrutia served as the government’s ambassador to Argentina. In the most recent election, he represented the Unitary Platform ticket, a coalition of parties opposing the Maduro regime.
González Urrutia declared himself the winner of the presidential elections held at the end of July. The National Electoral Council (CNE) reported President Nicolás Maduro, the successor to Hugo Chavez as the winner, which has led to a political crisis as the legitimacy of the election is called into question by anti-Maduro opposition leaders and some foreign governments. The leaders of Brazil and Colombia have attempted to support the Democratic process in Venezuela by coming up with a compromise between the electoral groups so that the country’s voters can feel that their voices are respected and heard at the ballot box. The two countries left their names off of a letter signed by several leaders of Latin American countries denouncing the arrest warrant issued for González Urrutia and have yet to make any public comments on the matter.
As reported, the First Special Court of First Instance in Control Functions with Jurisdiction in Cases Linked to Crimes Associated with Terrorism has ordered the arrest of González Urrutia for the alleged crimes of “usurpation of functions,” “forgery of public documents,” “instigation to disobedience of laws,” “conspiracy,” “sabotage to damage systems” and “association.” The Public Prosecutor had already warned that if he did not appear, it would understand that there was a “risk of flight” and “risk of obstruction” to justice.
The request comes after the candidate failed to appear before the Public Prosecutor’s Office last Friday. The office is investigating him for publishing voting data online that, if true, would show that he was the victor in the July election. The most recent no-show was his third refusal to appear in court.
Maduro's response
Nicolás Maduro has justified the arrest order by considering it “inadmissible” that González “does not recognize laws,” in reference to his rejection of both the election results and the institutions that have endorsed the elections.
Opposition leader María Corina Machado has also stated that the Venezuelan government has “lost all sense of reality” due to its “threats against the president-elect,” an action that “crosses a new line.”
The opposition has released documents to prove that González really won the July 28 elections, to the detriment of the current president, Nicolás Maduro. Both the National Electoral Council (CNE) and the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), bodies under the control of Maduro, allowing him great power to limit the power of political opponents.