Eduardo González The Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, yesterday warned against ‘any attempt to curtail the fundamental rights’ of Edmundo González Urrutia, following the decision of the Venezuelan Supreme Court to order the arrest of the leader of the Plataforma Unitaria Democrática (PUD), who has been missing since the presidential elections of 28 July. “Spain defends the political rights and the freedom of expression and demonstration of all Venezuelans,” Albares said on his official social networking site X. “We condemn any attempt to curtail the fundamental rights of Edmundo González,” he concluded. The judge of the First Special Court of the Venezuelan Supreme Court of Justice has ordered the arrest of González Urritia, at the request of the Prosecutor's Office, for the crimes of “usurpation of functions, forgery of public documents, instigation to disobey laws, conspiracy, sabotage and association” to commit a crime. The Prosecutor's Office had requested the arrest after the PUD published on the internet alleged electoral records proving the victory of its candidate in the presidential elections. The Platform claims to have 83.5 per cent of the tally sheets, allegedly obtained through witnesses and polling station members. The National Electoral Commission (CNE) and the Venezuelan Supreme Court have declared President Nicolás Maduro the winner, but the European Union, the United States and several Latin American countries have warned that they will not recognise his victory until all the voting results are published. Nine Ibero-American countries (Argentina, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Dominican Republic and Uruguay) have rejected “unequivocally and absolutely the arrest warrant issued by the judge of the First Special Court of the Supreme Court of Justice of Venezuela against Mr Edmundo González, the opposition presidential candidate in the last electoral process of 28 July 2024”, which represents “an attempt to silence Mr González, disregard the will of the Venezuelan people and constitute a political persecution”, they said in a joint statement. The leader of the PP, Alberto Núñez Feijóo, also rejected the decision of the Venezuelan court and wrote on his X account: "Maduro denies his defeat by silencing the opposition. Spain must lead the EU in defending freedom and support the Venezuelan people in their democratic decision to change government." And the president of the Community of Madrid, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, shared the statement issued by the Ibero-American countries, while asking: "Where is the Government of Spain?" For his part, the European Union's High Representative for Foreign Policy, Josep Borrell, has rejected the arrest warrant and urged the Venezuelan authoritie to respect the “freedom, integrity and human rights” of González Urrutia.
