The regime of Nicolás Maduro, through the president of the Chavista Parliament, Jorge Rodriguezrequested to prosecute and condemn opposition leaders Edmundo González Urrutia, Maria Corina Machado, Leopoldo Lopez, Juan Guaidó y Julio Borges for “treason”, a crime that in the Caribbean country is punishable by up to 30 years in prison.
During a session in the National Assembly, Rodríguez affirmed that these leaders are responsible for acts that, according to him, affect national sovereignty, such as requesting and celebrating international sanctions against the regime.
The spokesman for the dictatorship also proposed a “special law” that will be debated in the chamber starting this Thursday. This regulation will establish perpetual political disqualifications for those who carry out actions that, in their words, are “as lascivious” as requesting international sanctions.
The proposal occurs in a context of growing pressure towards the opposition, where González Urrutia, designated by the opposition coalition as the true winner of the July presidential elections, is in exile in Spain. For her part, María Corina Machado claims to be in hiding within the country.
The opponent Juan Guaidó responded to Rodríguez’s words through a message on his X account, describing them as “the hysteria of a psychopath”.
Guaidó considered that these statements occur as a reaction to the Bolivar Lawrecently approved by the United States House of Representatives, which intensifies sanctions against the Maduro regime.
“The hysteria of a psychopath! Jorge, the architect of the defeat of Maduro & co, convinced them that they could normalize the dictatorship once again. The outgoing administration recognizes Edmundo and Waltz (Trump’s security advisor) approves the Bolívar Act. Not even a pandemic will help them“Guaidó expressed in his publication.
In the parliamentary session, Rodríguez described the Bolívar Law as a “new act of barbarism” and accused the United States of executing “crimes against humanity” through sanctions.
The National Assembly, controlled by Chavismo, approved an agreement to repudiate this legislation, which it described as a unilateral and “illegal” coercive measure.
This complaint by the dictatorship arises after USA recognize Edmundo González Urrutia as elected president of Venezuela.
This statement was made by the Secretary of State, Antony Blinkenwho stated that “The Venezuelan people spoke out forcefully on July 28 and named Edmundo González Urrutia as president-elect.”
In a message published on the social network XBlinken added that “Democracy requires respect for the will of the voters”. For his part, González Urrutia thanked the support and highlighted that this recognition “honors the desire for change of our people and the civic feat that together we carried out on July 28.”
The announcement was made within the framework of the G20 Summitheld in Rio de Janeiroand represents Washington’s most explicit support for the former diplomat, who leads the Venezuelan opposition since the elections held in July.
Until now, the US administration had only indicated that the Democratic Unitary Platform had surpassed the president in votes Nicolas Madurobut avoided using categorical terms such as “president-elect.”
(With information from EFE)
