Edmundo Gonzalez, who is running against incumbent Nicolas Maduro in July’s presidential election, said masked men kidnapped his son-in-law in Caracas.
Edmundo GonzalezVenezuela’s political opposition leader has accused masked men of kidnapping his son-in-law, whose whereabouts remain unknown.
Gonzalez, who ran in the country’s disputed presidential election in July, made the announcement on social media on Tuesday.
“This morning my son-in-law Rafael Tudares was kidnapped,” Gonzalez wrote.
“Raphael was on his way to take my grandchildren, ages 7 and 6, to school in Caracas when he was intercepted by men dressed in black and wearing turbans, who put him into a gold pickup truck , bearing the license plate AA54E2C and took him away and now he is missing.”
Gonzalez, who himself currently faces an arrest warrant in Venezuela, claims to be the legitimate winner of the July 28 presidential election.
This puts him at odds with current President Nicolas Maduro, who also claims victory. Maduro will be sworn in for a third term on Friday.
The opposition and other critics of Maduro’s government protested the election and official results, which they said lacked transparency and fairness.
Pre-election polls appeared to show Maduro trailing González by a wide margin. But shortly after the vote ended, the country’s electoral authorities declared Maduro the winner without releasing the usual breakdown of the vote tally.
Venezuela’s opposition argued that precinct-level vote counts showed Gonzalez beating Maduro by a margin of two to one, and they posted what appeared to be an official tally online.
That raised doubts about the legitimacy of his victory, with protesters flooding the streets of cities including Caracas after the vote.
In turn, the government has been accused of leading a violent crackdown on protesters and political opponents after the election.
Although Maduro’s government recently said some 2,000 people were initially arrested and 23 killed release 1,515 detainees. His government has long faced accusations of political repression and human rights abuses, including torture and arbitrary detention.
In September, Venezuelan government prosecutors charged Gonzalez with conspiracy, usurpation of power and falsification of documents, and the court issued a arrest warrant.
Opposition leaders fled the country and went into exile in Spain. But he has pledged to return to Venezuela.
Meanwhile, the Venezuelan government has repeatedly said that if Gonzalez returns, he will be arrested.
Maduro and his allies insist that Gonzalez and other opposition members are working with hostile foreign powers to destabilize the country.
Gonzalez left Spain in early January and traveled across the Americas to rally support and put pressure on Maduro’s government.
He has already visited Argentina and Uruguay and on Monday met with U.S. President Joe Biden, whose administration recognized gonzalez Became legally elected president in November.
Although regional leaders have cast doubt on Maduro’s victory claims and condemned repress With protesters, it’s unclear what influence Gonzalez can wield.