MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

International community concerned about arrest warrant against González Urrutia

Expecting Venezuelan authorities to do justice is “a legal absurdity,” according to the OAS

Multiple voices from the international community expressed their concern Tuesday after Venezuela's Judiciary issued an arrest warrant against opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, whom many regard as the true winner of the July 28 presidential elections at which the incumbent Nicolás Maduro claims to have prevailed but without submitting any evidence.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said he was following “with concern” the situation in the South American country, which was one of the main issues on the day's agenda, UN Spokesman Stéphane Dujarric said.

“The secretary-general is following with concern developments in Venezuela since the July 28 presidential elections, including the decision by Venezuelan authorities to issue an arrest warrant for opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez,” he noted in a statement.

Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Maduro the winner with 52% of the vote but failed to produce the minutes for each voting table, which the opposition did, at least 83% of them, which would make it impossible for Maduro to win even if the got 100% endorsement elsewhere. Protests demanding these results be admitted were labeled as “terrorist acts” by Caracas. Some 27 people have died, including two members of the Bolivarian forces, hundreds were wounded and over 2,400 were arrested.

The European Union's (EU) High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Josep Borrell Tuesday rejected the arrest warrant against González Urrutia and called on Maduro's regime to respect his freedom, integrity, and human rights. “I categorically reject the arrest warrant against Edmundo González Urrutia and I urge the Venezuelan authorities to respect his freedom, integrity, and human rights,” Borrell wrote on X. “Enough repression and harassment of the opposition and civil society. The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected,” he added.

Argentina, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic, and Uruguay also condemned the measure. “We unequivocally and absolutely reject the arrest warrant issued by the judge of the First Special Court of the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela against Mr. Edmundo González, presidential candidate of the opposition in the past electoral process of July 28, 2024″, said these countries in a joint statement. ”Said arrest warrant cites several alleged crimes that are nothing more than another attempt to silence Mr. González, to disregard the Venezuelan popular will, and constitutes political persecution,“ they went on.

”In a country where there is no separation of powers or minimum judicial guarantees and where arbitrary detentions abound, we condemn these dictatorial practices and our efforts will be firm and continuous to demand that the Venezuelan authorities guarantee the life, integrity, and freedom of Edmundo González Urrutia,“ they stated.

US Assistant Secretary for Western Hemisphere Affairs Brian Nichols said the measure against the 75-year-old former diplomat was ”unjustified.“

”Instead of recognizing his electoral defeat and preparing for a peaceful transition in Venezuela, Maduro has now ordered the arrest of the democratic leader who overwhelmingly defeated him at the polls,“ Nichols insisted on social media. ”We join the growing list of international partners condemning this unjustified arrest warrant,” he went on.

Along the same lines was the statement released Tuesday by the Organization of American States (OAS) General Secretariat: ”The General Secretariat of the Organization of American States (OAS) condemns the arrest warrant issued by the authorities of the regime in Venezuela against Edmundo González. Political persecution, this time in the form of an arrest warrant for the opposition candidate who appears to have won the last elections according to the only documentary information available more than a month after the elections, constitutes one more crime in the permanent and continuous legal logic of systematic violation of human rights in the country.“

The document also underlined that ”once again, the judiciary in Venezuela perpetrates acts that point to it as a fundamental instrument in the execution of crimes against humanity in the country. It is not a judiciary that administers justice, but rather repression and violation of fundamental freedoms, and that establishes itself as the main agent of impunity for human rights violations.“

The continental agency also admitted that ”expecting Venezuelan prosecutors, magistrates, and judges to eventually do justice“ was ”a legal absurdity.”