US condemns 'unjustified' arrest warrant for Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate

Washington, Sep 4
The United States on Wednesday strongly condemned the "unjustified" arrest warrant issued by a Venezuelan court for country's former opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia who had claimed massive irregularities in the recently held elections in the Latin American nation.

"Gonzalez Urrutia won the most votes in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election, and this arbitrary and politically motivated action is a low point in Nicolas Maduro’s ruthless pursuit of his political opponents following his attempts to steal the July 28 presidential election," US State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said in a statement.

"Maduro and his representatives cannot indefinitely suppress the legitimate aspirations of the Venezuelan people and maintain power by force. The will of the people and their rights must be respected," he added.

The US reiterated its call for the immediate and unconditional release of those who have been unjustly detained and urged that the way forward should involve a peaceful, transparent, and inclusive democratic transition process that places the well-being of Venezuelans at its core.

Earlier, Venezuela's Attorney General's Office sought an arrest warrant against Urrutia for various charges, including conspiracy, usurpation of authority, and sabotage.

Gonzalez, it said, had ignored three summons to appear before prosecutors investigating him and testify in court regarding his alleged involvement in "crimes related to the presidential elections" held on July 28.

After losing the July 28 presidential elections, Gonzalez and another opposition presidential candidate, Maria Corina Machado, refused to recognise Nicolas Maduro's win and claimed the result was fraught with irregularities.

Maduro received 5,150,092 valid votes in the elections, representing 51.2 per cent of the votes, according to Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE). Gonzalez received 4,445,978 votes, or 44.2 per cent of the total votes, according to the CNE.

The National Electoral Council announced that the Electoral Chamber of the court validated the results of the presidential election, stating that the ruling was "verified in an unrestricted and unequivocal manner" by national and international electoral experts who participated in the auditing process.