Seoul Gazette - Venezuela opposition candidate not seeking asylum despite arrest risk: lawyer

The Venezuelan public prosecutor's office said Monday a court had approved a warrant for Gonzalez Urrutia over "serious crimes" related to the opposition's insistence that strongman incumbent Nicolas Maduro and his allies stole the vote.

Gonzalez Urrutia, who has been in hiding since shortly after the July 28 polls, had ignored three successive summons to appear before prosecutors investigating him.

"No asylum has been requested," lawyer Jose Vicente Haro told reporters outside Gonzalez Urrutia's house in Caracas on Tuesday, adding the matter "has not been raised."

The warrant prompted an outcry from the international community, with the United States, European Union, and nine Latin American countries rejecting it outright.

US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby said Washington and its allies condemned the "unjustified arrest warrant," calling the action "just another example of Mr Maduro's efforts to maintain power by force."

EU foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell on X "categorically" rejected the warrant.

"Enough of the repression and harassment of the opposition and civil society. The will of the Venezuelan people must be respected."

In a joint statement, Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, the Dominican Republic and Uruguay said they "unequivocally and absolutely reject the arrest warrant."

Leftist allies Brazil and Colombia -- who house millions of Venezuelan refugees -- added to the clamor Tuesday, expressing "deep concern" about the warrant they said "makes it difficult to find a peaceful solution" to the post-election crisis.

UN chief Antonio Guterres was following events with "concern," spokesman Stephane Dujarric said.

- Disputed poll outcome -

Venezuela's National Electoral Council (CNE), most of whose members are allies of 61-year-old Maduro, declared him reelected to a third six-year term within hours of polls closing, but without releasing detailed results.

The opposition published its own polling station-level voting tallies which it says show Gonzalez Urrutia won the race by a landslide.

The opposition count is at the heart of the charges against the 75-year-old ex-diplomat, which include "usurpation" of public functions, "forgery" of a public document, incitement to disobedience, sabotage, and "association" with organized crime and financiers of "terrorism."

"No one in this country is above the laws, above the institutions," Maduro insisted Monday.

The United States, EU and several Latin American countries support the Venezuelan opposition's claim to victory, while even Maduro-friendly Mexico, Colombia and Brazil have refused to recognize the result without seeing a full vote breakdown.

The CNE has said it cannot publish the records as hackers had corrupted the data, though observers have said there was no evidence of that.

Gonzalez Urrutia replaced opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on the ballot at the last minute after she was barred from running by institutions loyal to the regime.

She, too, has been mostly in hiding since the vote, though she has led a handful of organized protests against Maduro.

- Plane seized by US -

Maduro has said both Gonzalez Urrutia and Machado belong "behind bars," blaming them for the deaths of 25 civilians and two soldiers in protests that broke out spontaneously after his alleged victory was announced.

Nearly 200 people were injured and more than 2,400 arrested.

Since coming to power in 2013, Maduro has presided over an economic collapse that has seen more than seven million Venezuelans flee the country as GDP plunged 80 percent in a decade.

Last week, a blackout left most of Venezuela without power for hours on end in what the regime claimed was "sabotage" under a US-led plot to overthrow the socialist leader.

Maduro has managed to cling to power despite sanctions stepped up after his 2018 reelection, also dismissed as a sham by dozens of countries.

The United States on Monday seized the plane used by Maduro and his entourage, citing sanctions violations.

O.Kwon--SG