Maduro government offers reward to locate exiled opposition candidate | Nicolas Maduro news

The Human Rights Commission calls on the Venezuelan government to respect civil liberties as the beginning of the presidential term approaches

Government of the Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro Amnesty International has announced a $100,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of exiled opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.

Thursday’s announcement comes eight days before Maduro is sworn in for a third term, following a disputed presidential election in July.

In the months following the vote, Maduro’s government issued a resolution Arrest warrant In favor of Gonzalez, his rival in the race.

“A reward of $100,000 is being offered to anyone who provides information about his location,” the country’s Scientific, Criminal and Forensic Investigation Agency said in an Instagram post on Thursday.

The post placed a photo of Gonzalez as a “wanted” poster.

Maduro’s government claimed that the president had prevailed in his bid for re-election, but refused to reveal the usual distribution of voter counts that accompany elections.

Meanwhile, the opposition accused Maduro of Election fraud He said that Gonzalez He was the legitimate winner. It published what appeared to be electoral tallies showing Gonzalez beating Maduro by a margin of two to one.

Regional leaders also questioned Maduro’s claims of victory, and demanded that the government publish voter data that could confirm the validity of the results.

The government has not yet done so, and Gonzalez has left the country For Spain Following the arrest warrant in September.

He had previously said that he would return at the beginning of the new presidential term, and on Thursday the Argentine government indicated that he was on his way to Buenos Aires.

Human rights groups and international organizations such as the United Nations have criticized Maduro’s government Oppressive activities Before and after disputed elections, including arbitrary arrests and torture. Nearly 2,000 people were arrested following the elections, and 23 of them were killed.

As Maduro’s third inauguration on January 10 approaches, a group of UN human rights experts on Thursday appealed to Venezuelan authorities to respect civil liberties, including the right to protest.

“We are making a strong appeal to the authorities so that the right to demonstrate and express oneself can be exercised freely without fear of possible reprisals,” the organization’s president, Marta Vallinas, said in a statement.

Maduro has become increasingly isolated in the wake of disputed elections and violent police suppression of opposition-led protests. Even leftist allies in Brazil and Colombia pressured his government to announce transparent results.

The controversy over the election also strained relations with Argentina, which has since severed diplomatic relations with Venezuela.

With no formal diplomatic relations, Brazil agreed to act as a guard for the Argentine embassy in the Venezuelan capital, Caracas, where several opposition leaders have taken refuge. Argentina has repeatedly accused Venezuela of harassing those inside the embassy walls.

And the government of the far-right Argentine president, Thursday Javier Miley A complaint was filed with the International Criminal Court accusing the Venezuelan government of committing the crime of “enforced disappearance” over the arrest of a member of the Argentine security services in December.

The Argentine government says Nahuel Gallo, a member of its gendarmerie, crossed the border into Venezuela to see his family members.

But Venezuelan prosecutors say he is being investigated over his possible links to groups seeking to carry out “terrorist” acts in the country.