Colombia and Brazil express “concern” over arrest warrant against González Urrutia

Bogota, Sep 3 (EFE).- The governments of Brazil and Colombia expressed their support on Tuesday “Deep concern” over arrest warrant issued by Venezuelan courts against the standard-bearer of the opposition majority – the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) – Edmundo González Urrutia.

“This judicial measure seriously affects the commitments made by the Venezuelan Government under the Barbados Accords, in which the government and the opposition reaffirmed their commitment to strengthen democracy and promote a culture of tolerance and coexistence,” the two governments said in a joint statement.

The presidents of Colombia and Brazil, Gustavo Petro and Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, respectively, have tried to mediate in the crisis that Venezuela has been experiencing since the electoral body announced the disputed victory of Nicolás Maduro in the elections of July 28.

Neither country has yet recognised Maduro’s victory, but neither have they sided with González Urrutia, instead demanding that the electoral records be published and opening avenues for dialogue with both parties.

In this new joint statement they do not make reference to any winner either, butIt is one more step of pressure on Maduro which comes from two of its South American allies, who consider that the arrest warrant against González Urrutia “makes it difficult to find a peaceful solution, based on dialogue between the main Venezuelan political forces.”

On August 22, the Supreme Court endorsed the result of the National Electoral Council (CNE) that declared President Maduro the winner, a victory that the opposition led by candidate González Urrutia and María Corina Machado refuse to recognize and that many Latin American countries have also questioned.

And on Monday the opposition suffered this new attack, as the Prosecutor’s Office accused the standard-bearer of the majority opposition in Venezuela of “usurpation of functions,” “forgery of public documents,” “instigation to disobedience of laws,” “conspiracy,” “sabotage to damage systems and association (to commit crimes).”

According to the Prosecutor’s Office, these charges respond to data published by the PUD on a website, which, according to the anti-Chavez supporters, show González Urrutia’s victory by a wide margin in the elections, and for this reason he asked a court specializing in terrorism crimes on Monday to issue an arrest warrant.

Lula, whose party was one of the first to recognize Maduro’s victory, has hardened his stance in recent days regarding the official result of the presidential elections, insisting on not recognizing the victory of Chavismo and demanding the disaggregated publication of the results certifying the victory of the Venezuelan president.

The Brazilian president said that there is “no evidence” of a victory by Maduro, but clarified that he does not recognize González Urrutia as the winner of the elections of July 28.

Colombia, for its part, remained silent in the face of the Supreme Court’s announcement, and its foreign minister, Luis Gilberto Murillo, insisted that they remain committed to building bridges to achieve “fundamental solutions in Venezuela.”

“We must be very attentive to ensure that Colombia remains a country that builds bridges and can generate facilitation and mediation for fundamental solutions in Venezuela and that these are solutions that start from dialogue, from political negotiation by the Venezuelans themselves,” Murillo said after leaving a meeting with the Foreign Relations Advisory Committee on Tuesday.

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