Venezuela is offering a $100,000 reward for the arrest of an exiled opposition candidate
The Venezuelan government has offered a $100,000 (£81,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of exiled opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González.
He fled the country in September and was granted political asylum in Spain after Venezuelan authorities ordered his arrest, accusing González of conspiracy and forgery.
González vowed to return to Venezuela before the inauguration of President Nicolás Maduro next Friday, accusing the government of rigging the vote.
Shortly after the award was announced, González said he was traveling to Argentina to begin a tour of Latin America, where he will meet with fierce Maduro critic President Javier Milei on Saturday.
United Nations Human Rights Committee he ordered Venezuela “to refrain from destroying” vote counters from the presidential elections in July 2024.
The vote totals – a detailed official analysis of the votes from each polling station – were at the heart of the dispute over who won the election.
The National Electoral Council (CNE), which is aligned with the government, declared Maduro the winner, but did not provide voting results to back up its claim.
The opposition, which collected and announced more than 80% of the votes with the help of accredited election witnesses, says they prove its candidate, González, was the overwhelming winner.
González was not well known in Venezuela when he registered as a candidate for the country’s presidential election in March.
He had never run for public office before, and was not widely known in opposition circles.
But a few months after deciding to run for the top job, the modest former diplomat overtook Maduro in the polls.
Venezuela has seen divisions between government supporters and opposition deepen over the past decade.
González’s conciliatory tone during the presidential campaign contrasted sharply with Maduro’s, who warned of “bloodshed” if González won.
Maduro re-election 2018 was widely rejected as neither free nor fair.
