Venezuelan dictator moves to arrest political opponents who contest election ‘victory’
Venezuelan dictator Nicolás Maduro on Monday ordered the arrest of opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia for contesting the country’s recent presidential election.
‘No one in this country is above the laws’
Maduro declared victory over González in July, though he has not produced any tally sheets to support his claim. Polling data from the opposition reportedly show that Maduro in fact lost the election by more than 30% of the vote, but those who point this out face persecution.
That includes González, who has since gone into hiding. According to the BBC, Venezuelan prosecutors have charged González with “‘serious crimes’ including the ‘usurpation’ of public duties, document falsification, instigation of disobedience and system sabotage.”
"No one in this country is above the laws, above the institutions," Maduro said in a statement.
An estimated 2,400 people have been arrested since the election.
US slams Maduro for ‘politically targeted threats,’ ‘unjust detentions’ and ‘censorship’
While Venezuela’s highest court has reportedly upheld Maduro’s victory, it is unrecognized by the United States, the European Union, and Latin American countries.
“In the month since Venezuelans went to the polls, Nicolás Maduro and his representatives have tampered with the results of that election, falsely claimed victory, and carried out wide-spread repression to maintain power,” the US State Department said in a statement Thursday.
“Instead of responding to the Venezuelan people’s demands for transparency and democracy, Maduro has ratcheted up repression through politically targeted threats, unjust and indiscriminate detentions, and censorship in a desperate attempt to hold onto power by force,” the State Department continued.
On Monday, the US government announced it had seized Maduro’s plane in the Dominican Republic, accusing the dictator of exporting it from the United States in violation of US sanctions.
In March 2020 the Trump administration officially declared Maduro wanted for narcoterrorism and offered a $15 million reward for information leading to Maduro's arrest and/or capture.
Maduro is considered an illegitimate president by over 50 countries. He is known to have led the Cartel of the Suns, a drug cartel involving Venezuelan officials and the terrorist organization Revolutionary Armed Forces of Columbia (FARC). As Venezuela’s foreign minister, Maduro coordinated large-scale cocaine operations with Honduras and, with FARC’s assistance, commissioned the cartel’s own militia.
