Venezuela prosecutor’s office summons rival Edmundo Gonzalez to testify in criminal investigation against him

The Venezuelan prosecutor’s office reported this Friday that it will summon Edmundo González Urrutia, the presidential candidate of the majority opposition, “in the next few hours” for a criminal investigation against him, due to the alleged commission of crimes linked to a fraudulent election organized by the opposition.

The Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, will announce “at the time, manner and place” the details of this summons, with which he hopes the standard-bearer of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD) will speak about the website on which the electoral records were published which, according to the opposition, confirm their victory in the July 28 elections.

“He has to come to this summons so that he can speak in a consequential and gradual way about his responsibility for disobedience to the authorities before, during and after July 28,” the prosecutor said in a speech broadcast by state channel VTV.

Saab hopes that the opponent “makes statements about his authorship” in the publication of these figures, since a work “that only corresponds to the National Electoral Council (CNE)” has been “usurped”, which has not yet published separate results. This confirms the declared victory of Nicolás Maduro in the election.

“He doesn’t show his face, we don’t know where he is,” the prosecutor commented, pointing to González Urrutia’s decision to “shelter in place” in the face of threats from Chavismo, which has requested prison for him and his main supporter, María Corina Machado.

He believes the opponent is hiding “because of his extreme cowardice, terror and fear of justice”, but, he insisted, “he must show his face before the public ministry”.

The prosecutor’s announcement comes a day after the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) confirmed Maduro’s victory, a result rejected by several countries who have called on Venezuelan authorities to publish detailed election results as scheduled.

The crimes mentioned by the prosecutor’s office in the investigation against González Urrutia include kidnapping, conspiracy and collaboration to commit a crime.

The United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries have not yet recognized Nicolás Maduro’s victory in the July 28 elections and some regional leaders, such as Chilean President Gabriel Boric, have already announced they will not recognize the official candidate until the electoral record is published.