Venezuela’s Attorney General, Tarek Saab, said on Monday (13) that his office has requested an arrest warrant and an Interpol red notice against opposition leader Leopoldo López, who spent years in detention in Venezuela and lives in Spain. since 2020.
López has criticized the government in recent days amid opposition protests against President Nicolás Maduro’s third inauguration. Lopez said on X on Saturday that a proposal from former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe that military intervention was necessary in Venezuela should be “seriously considered.”
Maduro was sworn in for another six-year term on Friday (10), despite the dispute over who won the 2024 elections. He has led the country since 2013 and has presided over a long social and economic crisis.
López is being investigated for instigating the use of weapons against the state, treason, conspiracy and criminal association, Saab said in comments on state television.
The opponent was arrested in Venezuela in 2014 for leading protests against Maduro and was later placed under house arrest in 2017. In 2019, he appeared again in street protests and then took refuge in the Spanish ambassador’s residence, leaving Venezuela in 2020.
López did not immediately respond to a request for comment, but a spokesman for his Popular Will party said it categorically rejected the request for a warrant.
An Interpol Red Notice is a request made to law enforcement authorities around the world for a person accused of a serious crime to be located and detained.
Interpol did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Maduro was declared the winner of July’s presidential elections by Venezuela’s electoral authority and highest court, although the detailed figures confirming his victory were never published.
Venezuela’s opposition claims that poll counts show a landslide victory for its former candidate Edmundo González, who is recognized as president-elect by several countries, including the United States. International election observers said the vote was not democratic.
Since the elections, Gonzalez has fled to Spain, his ally Maria Corina Machado has gone into hiding in Venezuela, and prominent opposition figures and protesters have been detained.
González had promised to return to Venezuela to be sworn in as president, but the opposition said on Friday afternoon that this was not currently feasible.
Machado was briefly detained during a march on Thursday (9) and said the motorcyclist traveling with her was shot and later arrested.
The Venezuelan government published a video on Monday that it said showed the motorcyclist, who said he hid in a hotel and said he was not injured.
This content was originally published in Venezuela calls for opposition leader to be included on Interpol red list on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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