MIAMI, United States. – The Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia, who remains on tour in Latin America and the United States, denounced this Tuesday the kidnapping of his son-in-law, Rafael Tudares, when he was on his way to drop off his children at school, on the first day of classes.
“This morning my son-in-law Rafael Tudares was kidnapped. Rafael was heading to my grandchildren’s school to drop them off for the start of classes, hooded men dressed in black intercepted him, put him in a gold-colored truck, license plate AA54E2C, and took him away. At this time he is missing.” the leader detailed in his social network account.
The authorities of the Chavista regime have not confirmed whether this is an operation by the State security forces or a criminal act by people outside the Government.
González Urrutia maintains that the event is framed in a context of “political and judicial persecution” towards him, which forced him to leave Venezuela for Spain on September 7.
This morning my son-in-law Rafael Tudares was kidnapped.
Rafael was heading to the school of my 7 and 6-year-old grandchildren, in Caracas, to drop them off for the start of classes, and hooded men, dressed in black, intercepted him, put him in a gold-colored truck, license plate AA54E2C and…— Edmundo González (@EdmundoGU) January 7, 2025
The opposition, which made public more than 80% of the electoral records corresponding to the elections of July 28, assures that González Urrutia defeated Maduro. Chavismo, for its part, has refused to publish the detailed results of the elections.
The Nicolás Maduro regime also issued an arrest warrant against the opponent and promised a reward of $100,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to his capture.
Among the crimes he is accused of are “complicity in violent acts against the Republic, usurpation of functions, forging of documents, money laundering, ignorance of State institutions, instigation to disobedience of the laws, association to commit a crime.”
González Urrutia has reiterated that he will return to Venezuela to assume the Presidency on January 10, the date indicated in the Constitution for the inauguration, on which the ruler Nicolás Maduro also plans to swear in a new term. Given this intention, the regime warned that the opponent would be detained immediately if he returned to the country, as would those who accompanied him or collaborated with his inauguration.
González Urrutia met this Monday in the United States with President Joe Biden and Cuban-American congressmen María Elvira Salazar, Carlos Giménez and Mario Díaz-Balart.
The leader opponent Venezuelan and Biden “reaffirmed their commitment to democracy in Venezuela and the importance of respecting the popular will expressed on July 28,” as González Urrutia indicated on his social networks.
In one conference press release, the Venezuelan opponent, recognized as president-elect by the US, reported that his team was working to meet with the president-elect, Donald Trump.
He also added that he intends to continue with the same bipartisan policy that he has had from the beginning, as this will ensure a quick path to the restoration of democracy.
González Urrutia arrived in the United States this Sunday, as part of an international tour that he has undertaken prior to the inauguration scheduled for this Friday, January 10.
Despite the arrest warrants issued against him and Maria Corina MachadoGonzález Urrutia considers that these “harassment actions” are indicative of Maduro’s “weakness.” In a recent interview he expressed that “there will be a pulse, a tension” upon his return. “I am morally prepared,” he assured.
