A Venezuelan judge has ordered the arrest of presidential candidate Edmundo González, who the United States and other governments say clearly beat the country’s authoritarian president, Nicolás Maduro, in its July 28 election.
Maduro’s attorney general filed a warrant for the arrest of the 75-year-old former diplomat as part of what he said was an investigation into the opposition’s publication of voting machine receipts showing their candidate won more than twice as many votes as the authoritarian socialist.
Venezuela’s electoral council, which is controlled by Maduro, declared him the winner of the election. Several independent reviews of the receipts from 23,000 voting machines, including by The Washington Post, suggest González won the election in a landslide.
The electoral council has not released precinct-level results from the election. Instead, Maduro’s government has cracked down on the opposition, arresting more than 1,600 people and forcing many opposition leaders into hiding.
“Maduro has lost all touch with reality,” opposition leader María Corina Machado posted on X on Monday evening. The former National Assembly member, who is Venezuela’s most popular politician, backed González after she was banned from running against Maduro herself.
“The arrest warrant issued by the regime to threaten President-Elect Edmundo González crosses a new line that only strengthens the resolve of our movement,” Machado said. “Venezuelans and democracies around the world are more united than ever in our quest for freedom.”
The Biden administration is “considering a range of options to demonstrate to Mr. Maduro and his representatives that their actions in Venezuela will have consequences,” National Security Council spokesman John Kirby told reporters Tuesday.
In the warrant, a prosecutor accuses González of crimes including usurpation, forgery of a public document, instigation and sabotage. Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab called on González for a third time last week to appear before prosecutors as part of the investigation. He has declined.
The warrant was approved by a judge in an anti-terrorism court. Maduro, who has ruled the South American country for more than a decade, has repeatedly used its judiciary to affirm his authority. Venezuela’s high court last month ratified Maduro’s election victory, a seal of institutional approval for another six-year term.
Maduro accused González of endorsing violence, and connected him to a nationwide power outage last week.
“This cowardly man … has the nerve to say he doesn’t recognize anything,” Maduro said in televised remarks Monday. “That is why the majority of the people who live in Venezuela agree that laws should work, that there must be order, the constitution should be respected and public government institutions should do their work.”
González has been in hiding in recent weeks as authorities have rounded up and arrested opposition leaders, sometimes on the street and in the middle of the day. González was last seen in public more than a month ago.
His lawyer, José Vicente Haro, told reporters Tuesday that he was staying at González’s residence with González’s wife to cooperate with authorities in case they arrive there. González is staying elsewhere, the lawyer said, and has not requested asylum in any foreign embassy.
The Biden administration, which has called on Maduro to respect the election results and stop repressing the opposition, condemned the warrant.
“Rather than recognizing his election loss and preparing for a peaceful transition in Venezuela, Maduro has now ordered the arrest of the democratic leader who defeated him overwhelmingly at the polls,” Brian Nichols, assistant U.S. secretary of state for the Western Hemisphere, said in a post on X. “Edmundo González has promoted national reconciliation, and we join the growing list of international partners condemning this unjustified arrest warrant.”
Administration officials have been backing an effort by the leftist leaders of Colombia, Brazil and Mexico to negotiate a way forward. But with Maduro showing no interest in talks that might lead to his exit, they’ve indicated a willingness to take further action.
Earlier Monday, the United States seized a luxury aircraft that officials said was illegally purchased and “smuggled” out of the country for Maduro to use. Later, Bloomberg News reported that the Treasury Department was close to announcing 15 individual sanctions on Maduro-affiliated officials.
Top officials from the European Union, the Organization of American States and several Latin American countries also condemned the arrest warrant.
“People are being detained for expressing their right to political participation,” Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the Office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters Tuesday. “It is a climate of fear in the country at the moment. We are urging the government to ensure that all steps are taken in line with international human rights law.”
(c) 2024, The Washington Post · Samantha Schmidt