In 2013, the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (Psuv) published on its own website 38,900 digitalized voting records to demonstrate the victory of Nicolas Maduro about Henrique Capriles. It is not a crime to do so. But 11 years later, for replicating a similar action, Chavismo intends to imprison Edmundo González Urrutia, the 75-year-old former diplomat who took up the opposition banners during the presidential elections on July 28.
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The arrest warrant against González, issued by a court on Monday almost immediately after the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, was not a surprise. The Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, had already warned about this a few weeks ago, when he said that if the opposition leader did not attend the third summons against him, he would face an arrest warrant.
The Prosecutor’s Office is investigating him for alleged disobedience of laws, conspiracy, usurpation of functions and sabotage. The focus of the process is the website that the opposition, led by María Corina Machado, fed with copies of more than 80 percent of the voting records that, they say, serve as proof to demonstrate the overwhelming victory of their candidate at the polls.
In an attempt to stop the order, the lawyer José Vicente Haro, representing the opposition, met this week with the prosecutor, to whom he gave a document explaining the reasons why the former presidential candidate did not attend the three summonses made by the Prosecutor’s Office.
The Attorney General of the Republic has practically already sentenced Edmundo González
Among other things, They claim a violation of their right to the presumption of innocence and claim that González’s role was not “the digitalization, safekeeping and publication of copies of the voting records.”but the task of being a candidate.
“The Attorney General of the Republic has practically already sentenced Edmundo González. He has not only accused him of crimes, but he has also sentenced him for acts for which he has no responsibility, acts of a different nature. He even referred to homicides, to serious situations of human rights violations (…). He already shows that going to the Public Prosecutor’s Office would be a mistake,” Haro told reporters.
And although Machado assumed responsibility for the publication of the minutes, and despite the meeting between González’s lawyer and the prosecutor, the Chavistas ratified the arrest warrant and accused González of obstructing justice and wanting to “declare himself above the law.”
What is the objective of Chavismo with the arrest warrant?
Experts, however, see it as unlikely that the opposition leader’s arrest will take place, given that both González and Machado went into hiding. after the elections. The opposition leader’s whereabouts have been unknown since July 30, although it is believed that he could be in a diplomatic mission in Caracas.
Despite this, Analysts warn that the arrest warrant seeks to silence the opponent, or even force him into exile, in order to weaken the unity of the anti-Chavez movement before the presidential inauguration scheduled for January 10.
“What they are seeking is to attack the image that the opposition has managed to build around him and his victory. By issuing an arrest warrant against González, they believe they can manage the situation. They also want to see what spaces or response the opposition has. One of those scenarios would eventually be to force Edmundo González into exile with the aim of dismantling the opposition. However, it is unlikely that González will be released and I even see the execution of his arrest warrant as difficult. Today, what the regime is doing is increasing the dynamic of repression,” Ronal Rodríguez, from the Venezuela Observatory of the University of Rosario, told EL TIEMPO.
Political scientist Doriam González agrees with this, who told Voice of America that What Chavismo really seeks is to take the opposition to “an alternative regime where they cannot express themselves before public opinion,” as well as measuring national and international reactions to anti-opposition movements.
One of the things they are trying to measure with this situation is what the response of the international community would be to the capture or action against Edmundo González Urrutia.
“One of the things they are trying to measure with this situation is what the response of the international community would be to the capture or action against Edmundo González Urrutia. Chavismo has always used thermometer policies in which it tests discourses and narratives with the aim of identifying how difficult it can be,” analyst Rodríguez points out in this regard.
Regarding the possibility of a similar arrest warrant being issued against opposition member María Corina Machado, the expert said: “It is unlikely that they will try to issue an order, or even carry out an arrest, fundamentally because The government’s strategy for the great political leaders has been to point the finger at them, to issue a strong speech against them, but not to send them to jail. The only one who was taken to jail was Leopoldo López and it didn’t work for them,” although he also points out that the regime has begun to act erratically.
Venezuela increasingly isolated from the international community
The truth is that it’s been more than a month since the presidential elections and in that time more than 2,500 Venezuelans – including children – have been imprisoned. And although inflation closed at 2.8 percent, the economy is failing to prosper and the country is not attracting new investors. The most critical thing is that Venezuela is becoming increasingly isolated from the international community, which, although it does not recognize Nicolás Maduro’s victory, is not taking the step to recognize González either.
The United States, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Argentina, Uruguay and Panama recognized the opposition candidate González as the winner of the electoral contest, although they have also played an ambiguous role by avoiding calling him the president-elect.
On the other hand, Colombia and Brazil continue to “try” to mediate in the conflict, but it seems that their negotiations have not reached any point. Last Wednesday, for example, a virtual meeting was scheduled between Presidents Gustavo Petro, Lula da Silva and Maduro, but in the end it did not take place, even though the Venezuelan Foreign Ministry had confirmed it a day before.
“Let (Maduro) answer the phone,” Machado said when asked by this newspaper about the meeting, but did not add any further comments.
Both countries raised the tone this week by expressing their concern about the arrest warrant against González. and stating that the judicial measure “seriously affects the commitments assumed by the Venezuelan Government under the Barbados agreements.”
For political analyst Daniel Arias, the governments of Mexico, Brazil and Colombia would like to support Maduro “openly and totally” for political reasons, but they have a hard time justifying it to their countries. If they do so, says the analyst, they would pay the political and economic cost of their position, especially if the Valor Act is approved in the US Congress, “which proposes sanctioning those who operate politically or economically with the current national government of Venezuela.”
There is state terrorism promoted directly by the President of the Republic
For Machado, however, It is time for governments to take the reins and take firm positions to promote solutions to the crisis. “We have reached a point where we need to move forward, as I said, and this is a moment when Edmundo González must be recognized as the elected president of Venezuela,” the opposition leader said in a press conference from hiding.
Maduro, however, does not seem to care about international criticism or statements. But one front that does generate discomfort, especially among the Chavista leadership, are the international sanctions imposed by the United States and the European Union and the fact that they cannot travel freely or enjoy the goods or money they possess in those countries.
At the beginning of the week, in fact, the seizure by Washington in the Dominican Republic of one of the three planes that Maduro uses for his tours was surprising. In Caracas there was indignation, but they did not dare to make any major claims.
Another aspect that has bothered the regime in recent days is the investigation that is being carried out by the International Criminal Court (ICC). for crimes against humanity, an investigation launched by Colombia in 2018, accompanied by countries such as Argentina, Canada, Chile, Paraguay and Peru.
This week, Buenos Aires asked the ICC to issue an arrest warrant against Maduro. A call that was also made by 31 former presidents who requested the immediate arrest of Maduro, and of the number two of Chavismo, Diosdado Cabelloand the entire chain of command of the country.
The signatories include Spaniards Felipe González, José María Aznar and Mariano Rajoy; Colombians Andrés Pastrana, Álvaro Uribe and Iván Duque; Argentine Mauricio Macri and Mexican Vicente Fox.
“There is state terrorism promoted directly by the President of the Republic,” said Pastrana, who offered the ICC the cooperation of the Idea group to obtain “evidence, proof, legal support” so that it can act “quickly” in the case against Venezuela.
Although pressure is mounting, for now the investigation is being carried out against Venezuela and not against any senior official from the Latin American country.
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