Venezuela offers $100,000 reward for arrest of exiled opposition candidate

The Venezuelan government has offered a $100,000 (£81,000) reward for information leading to the arrest of opposition leader Edmundo González.

He fled the country in September and was granted political asylum in Spain after Venezuelan authorities ordered his arrest, accusing González of conspiracy and forging documents.

Mr González has vowed to return to Venezuela before President Nicolás Maduro is inaugurated next Friday, accusing the government of vote rigging.

Shortly after the award was announced, González said he was leaving for Argentina to begin a Latin American tour, where he will meet with Maduro’s tyrannical President Javier Milei on Saturday.

United Nations Committee on Human Rights has ordered Venezuela to “avoid spoiling” the vote from the presidential election in July 2024.

The tally of votes – the details of the votes cast from each polling station – has been at the center of the debate over who won the election.

The pro-government National Electoral Council (CNE) declared Maduro the winner but failed to deliver the votes to confirm his claim.

The opposition, who with the help of official election witnesses collected and published more than 80% of the vote, say that this proves that their leader, González, won the most.

González was unknown in Venezuela when he registered for the country’s presidential election in March.

He had never run for public office and was not even known in the opposition circles.

But a few months after he decided to run for the top office, the former low-ranking president edged Maduro in the polls.

Venezuela has seen the gap between the government and opposition supporters widen over the past decade.

González’s conciliatory tone during the presidential campaign was in stark contrast to Maduro’s, who warned of “bloodshed” if González won.

The 2018 re-election of Maduro was strongly rejected as without freedom or justice.