The Attorney General of Venezuela demands the arrest of the opposition leader | News about Nicolas Maduro

The Venezuelan government has petitioned the International Criminal Police Organization, known as Interpol, to seek the arrest of a leading opposition figure abroad.

State Attorney Tarek Saab announced Monday that his office had requested an arrest warrant Leopoldo Lopezformer mayor and leader of the Voluntad Popular political party.

Lopez lives in exile, having fled to Spain in 2020 after six years in prison and house arrest.

Saab’s call for his arrest comes after Lopez posted on social media in support of the former Colombian president’s recent comments Alvaro Uribe.

Uribe, a right-wing president who served from 2002 to 2010, held a press conference on Saturday at Colombia’s border with Venezuela, where he urged the international community to remove President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro.

“We call for international intervention, preferably with the support of the United Nations, to remove these tyrants from power and call for free elections immediately,” Uribe said from the border city of Cucuta.

Lopez responded to a video clip of Uribe’s speech on social media platform X that same day.

He cited July’s disputed presidential election as an indication that the opposition had exhausted all options to remove Maduro.

“After trying ALL ways, including winning the election with 70% of the vote, we must seriously consider this proposal,” Lopez wrote. “I dare say the vast majority of Venezuelans agree.”

Elections heighten tensions

Sworn to third six-year term on Friday, Maduro, a former bus driver, succeeded his political mentor Hugo Chavez as president in 2013.

His administration has long been accused of human rights abuses, including the arbitrary detention and torture of alleged political rivals.

Examining that human rights record was elevated during the 2024 election, when they are the leading candidates were forbidden from the race and the results were criticized for lack of transparency.

The national electoral authority announced Maduro’s victory hours after the polls closed, without providing the usual analysis of the votes, fueling suspicion.

In response, the opposition published copies of what it said were official ballots showing its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalezwinning by a large margin.

Sam Gonzalez has been ever since went into exileafter a Venezuelan court issued a warrant for his arrest in September. Ahead of Maduro’s inauguration, he returned to America to tour countries that supported his bid for the presidency, including Argentina and the United States.

Maduro has a long time accused foreign powers seeking to undermine his authority, and he often dismissed protests against his government as the result of foreign conspiracies.

“The gringos are behind this plan,” Maduro said in a televised address after protests erupted following the latest presidential race.

Ultimately, the government estimates that 2,000 people have been arrested in the post-election crackdown, and rights groups say 25 people have been killed.

The US has been ever since increased his bounty for information that could lead to Maduro’s arrest, from $15 million to $25 million. It recognizes Gonzalez as the real winner of the 2024 election.

Meanwhile, Maduro announced that his government arrested foreign “mercenaries” last week, including citizens of Colombia and the United States.

Controversial arrest

Lopez, the leader of Voluntad Popular, was initially detained under Maduro in February 2014.

The government charged him with a range of crimes, including public incitement and conspiracy to commit arson, although some of the most extreme charges – including “terrorism” – were later dropped.

In the end, he was sentenced to more than 13 years in prison. Human rights groups like Amnesty International denounced a procedure that could be “politically motivated” and the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention called for Lopez’s release.

In 2017, Lopez was transferred from Ramo Verde prison to house arrest, and in 2020. fled to Spain.

In announcing the new charges on Monday, Attorney General Saab told Venezuelan state television that he would seek Lopez’s re-arrest for incitement to use weapons against the state, treason, conspiracy and criminal association.