EU, US and Latin America reject arrest warrant for opposition candidate

The United States, the European Union and nine Latin American countries on Tuesday rejected the arrest warrant issued against Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the Venezuelan opposition candidate who is claiming victory in the presidential election in which Nicolas Maduro was declared the winner.

At the request of the prosecution, a court with jurisdiction over terrorism ordered the arrest of the 75-year-old diplomat as part of investigations into “disobedience to the laws”, “conspiracy”, “usurpation of functions” et «sabotage»The diplomat has not been seen in public since July 30, while opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who mostly lives in hiding, appears at opposition rallies.

Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia did not attend three summonses from the courts that wanted to hear him about the opposition website that gives him the victory. He justified himself on social networks by mentioning the absence “independence” of justice and a prosecutor “political accuser”. Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia also announced on Tuesday through his lawyer that he had not “not considered” to seek political asylum abroad. A large part of the international community, led by the United States, does not recognize the re-election of Nicolas Maduro, and has rejected the arrest warrant issued on Monday.

“Maduro’s attempts to maintain himself”

The United States “join several international partners in condemning the unjustified arrest warrant”a White House spokesman said Tuesday. “This is another example of Maduro’s attempts to hold on to power by force and to refuse to recognize that Mr. Gonzalez won the majority of the votes.”added John Kirby, on behalf of the National Security Council. The head of European diplomacy, Josep Borrell, also rejected “categorically” the arrest warrant and urged “the Venezuelan authorities to respect their freedom, integrity and human rights”.

In the same vein, nine Latin American countries – Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay – said they rejected “unequivocally and absolutely the arrest warrant”according to a joint statement. For these nine countries, the arrest warrant is a “a new attempt to silence Mr. Gonzalez, to ignore the will of the Venezuelan people and to constitute political persecution”.

“Dictatorial practices”

Venezuela, the country with the largest oil reserves in the world, has already broken off diplomatic relations with several of those countries that have not recognized Nicolas Maduro’s re-election. The socialist president, 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 has not made public the minutes of the polling stations, saying it was the victim of computer hacking.

Such 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 scrutineers, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia obtained more than 60% of the votes. After the announcement of Nicolas Maduro’s re-election, spontaneous demonstrations left 27 dead and 192 injured, while some 2,400 people were arrested, according to official sources.

Nicolas Maduro and the government in general regularly attack Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, frequently calling him a “coward” and believing he should be in prison. “No one in this country is above the law, above the institutions, as this man, this man in hiding, the coward Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, claims.”Nicolas Maduro said on Monday during his weekly television show.

Shortly before the announcement of the arrest warrant, Washington announced on Monday that it had seized a plane used by Nicolas Maduro and “illegally acquired for $13 million through a shell company”according to the United States. Venezuela called the seizure an act of “piracy”.