Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, who insists he won the July presidential election against incumbent president Nicolas Maduro, said his son-in-law was kidnapped Tuesday morning in the capital, Caracas.
In a statement on X, Gonzalez said Rafael Tudares was abducted as he was taking his children to school.
“Rafael was on his way to my grandchildren’s school to drop them off for the start of classes, he was intercepted by hooded men, dressed in black, they put him in a gold-colored van,” Gonzalez said in the statement on X.
Gonzalez did not provide any information on the status of his grandchildren, whom the Associated Press reports are 6 and 7 years old.
The abduction comes as tensions are mounting in Venezuela. Both Gonzalez and Maduro claim to have won the presidential election.
Maduro has continued to claim victory in Venezuela’s July election, even though electoral authorities did not provide detailed vote counts following the election.
The opposition said its collection of tally sheets from more than 80% of Venezuela’s electronic voting machines prove that Gonzalez was the clear winner.
Gonzalez has visited several countries in the Americas recently as he seeks to rally support for his effort to oust Maduro. On Monday, he met with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House.
The U.S., most European countries and several Latin American countries have rejected Maduro’s claims to victory, which have been recognized by Venezuela’s top court and electoral authority.
Gonzalez, who has been living in exile in Spain since the election, has promised to return to Venezuela on Friday for the presidential inauguration.
Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello said Monday that Gonzalez would be “arrested and tried if he sets foot in Venezuela.”
Venezuela is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Gonzalez.
The controversial presidential election sparked mass protests that left nearly 30 people dead and more than 2,000 arrested.
Some information in this report came from The Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France-Presse.
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Publish date : 2025-01-07 07:26:00
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