Edmundo Gonzalez, who ran against incumbent President Nicolas Maduro in July’s presidential election, said masked men kidnapped his brother-in-law in Caracas.
Edmundo GonzalezThe leader of the Venezuelan political opposition, a masked man, was accused of kidnapping his brother-in-law, who is still missing.
Gonzalez, who ran in July’s disputed presidential election, announced the news on social media on Tuesday.
“This morning, my brother-in-law, Rafael Todares, was kidnapped,” Gonzalez said. books.
“Rafael was heading to the school of my grandchildren, aged 7 and 6, in Caracas, to drop them off to start school, and masked men dressed in black intercepted him, put him in a gold-colored pickup truck with license plate AA54E2C and took him away. At this time he is missing. “
Gonzalez himself is currently facing an arrest warrant in Venezuela, where he has confirmed that he is the legitimate winner of the presidential elections scheduled for July 28.
This has put him at odds with current President Nicolas Maduro, who has made similar claims victory. Maduro is scheduled to be sworn in for a third term on Friday.
The opposition and other critics of the Maduro government protested the elections and official results, which they asserted lacked transparency and integrity.
Pre-election polls showed Maduro trailing Gonzalez by a large margin. But shortly after the polls closed, the country’s electoral body declared Maduro the winner, without revealing the usual distribution of votes.
The Venezuelan opposition said district-level tallies showed Gonzalez beating Maduro by a margin of two to one, and they posted what appeared to be official tally sheets online.
This raised doubts about the legitimacy of his victory, and demonstrators flooded the streets in cities such as Caracas in the wake of the vote.
In contrast, the government was accused of leading a violent crackdown on demonstrators and political opponents in the wake of the elections.
About 2,000 people were initially arrested, and 23 people were killed, although Maduro’s government recently stated that Released 1,515 detainees. His administration has long faced accusations of political repression and human rights violations, including torture and arbitrary detention.
In September, Venezuelan government prosecutors charged Gonzalez with conspiracy, usurpation, and forging documents, and a court issued an injunction. An arrest warrant was issued for him.
The opposition leader fled the country and went into exile in Spain. But he vowed to return to Venezuela.
Meanwhile, the Venezuelan government has repeatedly said that Gonzalez would be arrested if he returned.
Maduro and his allies contend that Gonzalez and other opposition members worked with hostile foreign powers to destabilize the country.
In early January, Gonzalez left Spain to rally support on a tour across the Americas and lobby Maduro’s government.
He has already visited Argentina and Uruguay, and met on Monday with US President Joe Biden, whose government Gonzalez admitted As the legitimate president elected in November.
While regional leaders expressed doubts about Maduro’s claims of victory and condemned the attack campaign As far as the protesters are concerned, it remains unclear what influence can be exerted on Gonzalez’s behalf.
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