The Venezuelan government has offered a $100,000 (£81,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of exiled opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.
He Fleeed the country in September. And Gonzalez was granted political asylum in Spain after Venezuelan authorities ordered his arrest on charges of conspiracy and forged documents.
González has vowed to return to Venezuela before President Nicolás Maduro is sworn in next Friday, accusing the government of rigging the vote.
Shortly after the prize was announced, Gonzalez said he was traveling to Argentina to begin a tour of Latin America, where he will meet President Javier Meli, a staunch critic of Maduro, on Saturday.
United Nations Human Rights Committee Ordered Venezuela to “refrain from distorting” voting numbers. From the presidential election in July 2024.
Voting tallies — a detailed official breakdown of votes from each polling station — have been at the center of the dispute over who won the election.
The government-linked National Electoral Council (CNE) declared the incumbent, Maduro, the winner but failed to provide voting numbers to support his claim.
The opposition, which collected and published more than 80 percent of the vote with the help of accredited election witnesses, says it proves its candidate, Gonzalez, was a landslide winner.
González was not well known in Venezuela when he registered as a candidate for the country’s presidential election in March.
He had never run for public office before and was not popular even in opposition circles.
But months after deciding to run for the top job, the low-key former diplomat has overtaken Maduro in opinion polls.
Venezuela has seen the divide between government and opposition supporters deepen over the past decade or so.
Gonzalez’s conciliatory tone during the presidential campaign was in stark contrast to Maduro, who warned of a “bloodbath” if Gonzalez won.
2018 re-election of Maduro was widely rejected As neither free nor fair.