Several governments in the Americas and Europe, as well as various international organizations, rejected the arrest warrant against Edmundo González Urrutia issued by a court specializing in crimes related to terrorism and asked the authorities to guarantee and protect the rights of the standard-bearer of the largest opposition coalition in Venezuela.
U.S. State Department spokesman Matthew Miller said the order was “an arbitrary and politically motivated action that demonstrates the extraordinary lengths that President Nicolas Maduro is willing to go to try to hold on to power following his attempt to steal the July 28 presidential election.”
In a joint statement, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay said that this measure is “another attempt to silence” González Urrutia and added that “ignoring the will of the Venezuelan people constitutes political persecution.”
“Our efforts will be firm and continuous to demand that the Venezuelan authorities guarantee the life, integrity and freedom of Edmundo González Urrutia,” they said.
The Peruvian government said that “this intimidation demonstrates, once again, the lack of recognition of the popular will and the intensification of government repression.”
The Chilean government rejected the arrest warrant after condemning “any form of repression against opponents of the dictatorial regime in Venezuela” and called for “respect for democratic principles, as well as human rights and fundamental freedoms of all Venezuelans.”
Argentina, for its part, denounced that “in a context of massive human rights violations in the face of popular protests unleashed after a gross electoral fraud, the regime intends to curtail the fight for democracy and freedom, persecuting opposition leaders, who are victims of a ruthless political persecution, violating all their fundamental rights in a framework of state terrorism.”
Meanwhile, the Government of Ecuador considered that “the alleged crimes charged to Mr. González Urrutia clearly show political persecution, disrespect for the separation of powers and due process guarantees.”
More voices in support of González Urrutia
The Spanish government condemned “any attempt to curtail” the fundamental rights of all Venezuelans, including opposition leaders, said government spokesperson Pilar Alegría, referring to the arrest warrant against the opposition leader.
For his part, the Secretary of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, stressed that political persecution “constitutes one more crime in the permanent and continuous legal logic of systematic violation of human rights in the country.”
The High Representative of the European Union (EU) for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, “categorically” rejected the arrest warrant against the flag bearer of the majority opposition and urged “the Venezuelan authorities to respect his freedom, integrity and human rights.”
The Italian government also “strongly” condemned the arrest warrant against the opposition leader, summoned the head of mission of the Venezuelan Embassy in Rome to express its concern about the crisis and again urged the Venezuelan authorities to make public the electoral records in order to proceed with “their immediate independent verification.”
UN Secretary-General António Guterres is “closely following” the situation in Venezuela, “including the arrest warrant against opposition leader Edmundo González,” said his spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric.
The Venezuelan courts accuse González Urrutia of “usurpation of functions”, “forgery of public documents”, “instigation to disobedience of laws”, “conspiracy”, “sabotage to damage systems and association (to commit crimes).”
The investigation is related to the publication of a website in which the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) claims to have uploaded “83.5% of the electoral records” collected by witnesses and table members to demonstrate what they consider electoral “fraud”, as they claim that González Urrutia won the elections by a wide margin over the current president of the country, Nicolás Maduro.
America / EFE
#International #community #calls #protection #González #Urrutias #rights #arrest #warrant
2024-09-05 07:04:10
