Venezuelan socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro has ordered the arrest of his presidential opponent Edmundo González after challenges of the recent election results, which Maduro claims he won.
Venezuelan prosecutors moved to arrest Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia on Monday for claiming that Maduro stole the election from him.
Maduro asked for the arrest of Urrutia, a retired diplomat who went into hiding shortly after the election.
Prosecutors have charged Urrutia with “‘usurpation’ of public functions, ‘forgery’ of a public document, incitement to disobedience, sabotage, and ‘association’ with organized crime and financiers of ‘terrorism,’” AFP reported.
The Venezuelan court authorized the arrest warrant on Monday.
Meanwhile, the United States, the European Union, and multiple Latin American countries have not recognized the election results because there is no proof that Maduro won.
Data published by the opposition indicates that Maduro may have lost by a massive margin.
Maduro’s government has since killed dozens of dissidents who have called out the results of the election.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said the arrest warrant proves “Maduro has lost all touch with reality.”
“The arrest warrant issued by the regime to threaten President-Elect Edmundo Gonzalez crosses a new line that only strengthens the resolve of our movement,” she said.
“Venezuelans and democracies around the world are more united than ever in our quest for freedom.”
Maduro has lost all touch with reality.
The arrest warrant issued by the regime to threaten President-Elect Edmundo Gonzalez crosses a new line that only strengthens the resolve of our movement.Venezuelans and democracies around the world are more united than ever in our… pic.twitter.com/QxwAuDmZwn
— María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) September 2, 2024
On Monday, the U.S. government seized Maduro’s plane, which was purchased through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States, according to officials.
The LA Times reported that the Dassault Falcon 900EX was seized in the Dominican Republic and transferred to the custody of federal officials in Florida, the Justice Department said Monday.
The outlet continued:
The plane landed at Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport shortly before noon Monday, according to flight tracking websites.v U.S. officials say associates of the Venezuelan leader used a Caribbean-based shell company to hide their involvement in the purchase of the plane, valued at the time at $13 million, from a company in Florida.
Officials say the plane was exported from the U.S. to Venezuela through the Caribbean in April 2023 in a transaction meant to circumvent an executive order that bars U.S. persons from business transactions with the Maduro regime.
“Let this seizure send a clear message: aircraft illegally acquired from the United States for the benefit of sanctioned Venezuelan officials cannot just fly off into the sunset,” Matthew Axelrod, an assistant secretary for export enforcement in the Commerce Department, said in a statement.
“There is an overarching body of work and continued body of work, looking at the corrupt practices of the Venezuelan government,” Anthony Salisbury, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in Miami, told the AP. “Obviously, we are not done yet.”
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