sep 2 2024 (Bloomberg) -- Venezuela ordered the arrest of presidential candidate Edmundo González, an escalation of the government’s crackdown on dissent in the wake of a disputed election.
The move is likely to draw further outcry from the US and other countries that have concluded González was the winner of the July 28 vote. Venezuelan authorities have declared instead, without evidence, that President Nicolás Maduro was reelected to a third term.
Prosecutors are accusing González of breaking the law because the opposition uploaded voting records to show he won in a landslide. González 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’s Office Instagram account.
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 María Corina Machado has attended three opposition protests, González hasn’t appeared in public since two days after ballots were cast.
