Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia considered this Wednesday as “revenge” against him that his son-in-law, Rafael Tudares, has been detained since January 7 of last year, an event that occurred three days before the inauguration of Nicolás Maduro, who – according to the opposition – was fraudulently proclaimed re-elected president.
“This is more revenge than justice,” said González Urrutia on his X account.
In this sense, he stated that the charges against him – due to an investigation and an arrest warrant in Venezuela – were “transferred” to Tudares, who was sentenced to 30 years in prison for the crimes of “forgery, conspiracy, terrorism, association, legitimation and financing.”
“I took it from the beginning for what it really is: a pressure that they are putting on me and that he is paying for by being the son-in-law of Edmundo González, the presidential candidate who won the elections and that this regime stole them from him,” claimed the opposition leader, in reference to the 2024 presidential elections.
Likewise, he reiterated that his son-in-law is in “forced disappearance,” noting that his daughter, Mariana González, is unaware of his whereabouts and the place where Tudares has been held for a year, a period that González Urrutia described as “marked by the absence of information, legal guarantees and justice.”
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“Rafael has not had respect for procedural guarantees, access to private defense, adequate medical care, decent detention conditions or effective judicial control, quite the opposite,” denounced the opponent.
Furthermore, he argued that Tudares’ case “is not isolated,” but rather “is part of a pattern that affects hundreds of people in Venezuela, including women and children, subjected to arbitrary detentions, forced disappearances and systematic deprivation of rights.”
“As long as these practices persist, it will not be possible to talk about peace or democracy, or guarantees for anyone. Venezuela needs truth, justice and freedom for all,” concluded the opposition leader, who claims the Presidency from exile by ensuring that he defeated Maduro in the 2024 presidential elections.
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Tudares was arrested on January 7 of last year, when human rights defender Carlos Correa – already released – and former opposition presidential candidate Enrique Márquez, who remains in prison, were also arrested.
With information from EFE.
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