Venezuela Elections | Opposition Candidate Ignores Court Summons, Still Subpoenaed

(Caracas) The opposition candidate claiming victory in the July 28 presidential election in Venezuela, Edmundo González Urrutia, was again summoned to appear Tuesday by the prosecutor’s office as part of an investigation for usurpation of functions.

Living in hiding for three weeks, Mr. González Urrutia, who on Sunday called the prosecutor a “political accuser,” is expected at 10 a.m. ET but is unlikely to show up.

On Monday, he did not respond to a first summons, just as he did not attend those of the Supreme Court concerning the vote.

An appearance could prove perilous for the 74-year-old former ambassador, who cites the lack of a “guarantee of independence” of the justice system. He could be arrested, as the prosecutor’s office opened an investigation against him and opposition leader María Corina Machado in early August for “usurpation of functions, dissemination of false information, incitement to disobedience of the law, incitement to insurrection, criminal association.”

“The pardons and pardons are over, whoever attacks the institutions, whoever attacks our people must assume their responsibility. Enough is enough!” Diosdado Cabello, vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, said on Monday. [PSUV]considered one of the most influential men in the country, believing that the “organs of the judicial system” should “take the necessary decisions” to punish Mr. González Urrutia.

“Persecution”

Joel Garcia, a lawyer for imprisoned opponents, assured AFP that “for the entire catalogue of crimes, the sentence” incurred by Mr. González Urrutia “can reach thirty years”, the maximum prison sentence in Venezuela.

Former exiled prosecutor Zair Mundaray believes that Mr González Urrutia is the subject of “political persecution: this is a totally irregular summons and designed precisely to try to make him make a mistake.”

On August 22, unsurprisingly, the High Court of Justice (TSJ), considered subservient to the government, validated Mr. Maduro’s re-election for a third term. A “historic and indisputable” decision, Mr. Maduro considered. “Zero,” according to the opposition.

Mr Maduro was declared the winner with 52% of the vote by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which has not, however, made public the minutes of the polling stations, saying it was the victim of computer hacking.

Such an attack is considered implausible by the opposition and many observers, who see it as a maneuver by the government to avoid disclosing the exact count.

According to the opposition, which published the minutes provided by its scrutineers, Mr González Urrutia obtained more than 60% of the votes.

Without showing them, the TSJ assured that it had verified the reports submitted by the authorities, as well as the reality of the computer attack against the CNE.

The United States, ten Latin American countries and the head of European Union diplomacy, Josep Borrell, rejected the Supreme Court’s decision, with Washington citing a “total lack of credibility”.

In contrast, the countries of the Bolivarian Alliance for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA), created 20 years ago by the late socialist leaders Hugo Chavez and Fidel Castro, gave their support to Mr. Maduro on Monday during an exceptional summit.

The announcement of the re-election of Nicolás Maduro, 61, sparked spontaneous protests that left 27 dead and 192 injured, according to official sources. Some 2,400 people were also arrested, according to the same source.

Both the government and the opposition have called for demonstrations on Wednesday, exactly one month after the election. For the government, it is a way of showing its strength and celebrating Mr Maduro’s “victory”.

M^me Machado said Monday night: “A month after our grand victory: everyone back on the streets!” […] We will not rest: we will go all the way.”