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(Bloomberg) — Venezuela ordered the arrest of presidential candidate Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez, an escalation of the government\u2019s crackdown on dissent in the wake of a disputed election.<\/p>\n
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The move is likely to draw further outcry from the US and other countries that have concluded Gonz\u00e1lez was the winner of the July 28 vote. Venezuelan authorities have declared instead, without evidence, that President Nicol\u00e1s Maduro was reelected to a third term.<\/p>\n
Prosecutors are accusing Gonz\u00e1lez of breaking the law because the opposition uploaded voting records to show he won in a landslide. Gonz\u00e1lez is accused of crimes including forging a public document, incitement to disobedience of laws, conspiracy and sabotage, according to the arrest warrant published Monday on the Prosecutor\u2019s Office Instagram account.<\/p>\n
Thousands of citizens, including children, have already been arrested as the regime sought to silence protests in the wake of the election. At least 25 have died, according to human-rights groups. While banned opposition leader Mar\u00eda Corina Machado has attended three opposition protests, Gonz\u00e1lez hasn\u2019t appeared in public since two days after ballots were cast.<\/p>\n
Attorney General Tarek William Saab said Friday that authorities intend to take Gonz\u00e1lez into custody after he failed to comply with three separate summons over the uploading of voting records that appeared to show he won the July 28 presidential election by a landslide. Saab had already opened a criminal investigation into Gonz\u00e1lez and Machado for incitement to disobey laws, insurrection and misinformation, among other offenses.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve lost all sense of reality,\u201d Machado posted on X on Monday after the arrest warrant was issued. \u201cBy threatening the president-elect they will only unite us more and increase Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez\u2019s support from Venezuelans and the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gonzalez\u2019s press officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n
Seized Plane<\/p>\n
The arrest order was announced hours after the US seized Maduro\u2019s plane after concluding it was bought and operated in violation of US sanctions, and days after a nationwide blackout which the government blamed on an attempt to \u201csabotage\u201d the electrical grid by \u201cfascist and extreme-right powers.\u201d<\/p>\n
Venezuela\u2019s electoral authority, which is controlled by Maduro allies, said the president was reelected with 52% of votes cast. That claim has been contested by the opposition, which says it has evidence from more than 80% of polling records showing a win for Gonz\u00e1lez.<\/p>\n
While the US and other nations have agreed with those findings, many are stopping short of declaring Gonz\u00e1lez president-elect, leaving room to negotiate ahead of the January inauguration. Ideologically aligned regional peers Brazil and Colombia have called on Maduro to publish the complete voting records showing he won, while the European Union\u2019s top diplomat said Aug. 29 the bloc can\u2019t accept the authoritarian socialist\u2019s self-declared victory.<\/p>\n
(Updates with comment from Machado, background starting in the sixth paragraph.)<\/p>\n
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