Venezuelan authorities have announced a $100,000 reward for information leading to the capture of exiled opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who insists he beat President Nicolás Maduro at the polls.
Police published on social media a photo of the previously little-known ex-diplomat with the word “wanted” under the image.
He fled to Spain in September after Maduro claimed victory in the 28 July election and cracked down hard on dissent.
González, 75, vowed to return to his troubled, economically distressed country to be sworn in as president on 10 January instead of Maduro, who is due to take the oath of office that day.
Judicial officials told AFP that the wanted poster with González’s face would be displayed at airports and police checkpoints around the country.
Spain granted González asylum on 20 December after Venezuela announced charges of conspiracy and racketeering against him.
Venezuela declared Maduro the winner of a third six-year term in the July vote but the opposition cried foul, saying it has detailed polling station numbers that show González won handily.
The government has resisted intense pressure at home and abroad to release vote results that prove its claim of victory. Street protests erupted after the election and devolved into clashes with police, with 28 people dead, 200 injured and more than 2,400 arrested.
Three detainees died in prison, and nearly 1,400 of those originally arrested have been released.
Maduro was handpicked by the late socialist icon Hugo Chávez to succeed him upon his death in 2013.
Maduro has overseen the oil-rich country’s decline into economic ruin and been accused of acting like a harsh leftwing dictator as he cracks down on dissent and clings to power.
Only a handful of countries, including Venezuelan ally Russia, have recognized Maduro as the winner of the July election.
The United States and the European parliament have recognized González as “president-elect”.
Source: theguardian.com
