Court Orders Arrest Of Opposition Leader After USA Seizes Venezuela President's Aircraft ~ OsazuwaAkonedo #Antony Blinken #Canada #Corina #Dassault #Dominican #Edmundo #Falcon #Florida #Fort #Garland #Gonzalez #Lauderdale #Machado #Maduro #Maria #Merrick #Nicolas #republic #Saab #Tarek #USA #Venezuela https://osazuwaakonedo.online/court-orders-arrest-of-opposition-leader-after-usa-seizes-venezuela-presidents-aircraft/03/09/2024/ #Issues Published: September 3rd, 2024 Reshared: September 3, 2024 10:10 pm Political situation in the South America country of Venezuela took a new twist on
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00:00Political situation in the South American country of Venezuela took a new twist on Monday
00:05as United States of America, U.S.S.S., the country president's aircraft and assembly,
00:11the president, Nicolas Maduro, secured a court order to arrest political opposition leader
00:16and presidential candidate in the unsettled July 28 presidential election, Edmundo González.
00:23It could be recalled that the U.S. government on August 2, 2024, issued a statement and
00:29recognized Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González as the winner of the South
00:35American country's presidential election, discrediting the results announced by electoral
00:40authorities who declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner.
00:44The U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, in the statement said, given the overwhelming
00:49evidence, it is clear to the United States and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people
00:56that Edmundo González Orotea won the most votes in Venezuela's July 28 presidential
01:02election.
01:03In addition, the United States rejects current President Nicolas Maduro's unsubstantiated
01:10allegations against opposition leaders.
01:14Maduro and his representatives' threats to arrest opposition leaders, including Edmundo
01:19González and MarĂa Corina Machado, are an undemocratic attempt to repress political
01:24participation and retain power.
01:27Blinken said he congratulates González on his successful campaign, adding it is time
01:33for the Venezuelan parties to begin discussions on a respectful, peaceful transition.
01:39We fully support the process of re-establishing democratic norms in Venezuela and stand ready
01:45to consider ways to bolster it jointly with our international partners, he added.
01:51He said the processing of the votes and announcement of the results by the Venezuelan National
01:56Electoral Council, CNE, were deeply flawed, adding the announced outcome does not represent
02:03the will of the Venezuelan people.
02:06Homeland Security Investigations, HSI, threw Maduro's personal plan back to the United
02:12States on Monday morning, landed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is now in U.S. custody, a U.S.
02:20official said as reported by CNN.
02:23We gather that the plan, described by officials as Maduro's version of Air Force One, is used
02:30for Maduro's state visits around the world and was seized in the Dominican Republic after
02:36it was purchased through a straw company in violation of sanctions laws and export controls,
02:42the official said.
02:44U.S. authorities reportedly cited a specific violation of U.S. Executive Order 13884, signed
02:52by former President Donald Trump in 2019.
02:56The plane, valued at $13 million, is a Dassault Falcon 900EX.
03:03The seizure was a result of a joint investigation with HSI and the U.S. Department of Commerce,
03:10according to U.S. government.
03:13This morning, the Justice Department seized an aircraft we allege was illegally purchased
03:18for $13 million through a shell company and smuggled out of the United States for use
03:23by Nicolas Maduro and his cronies, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement.
03:30Adding, the department will continue to pursue those who violate our sanctions and export
03:35controls to prevent them from using American resources to undermine the national security
03:41of the United States.
03:43Reuters reported that the Venezuela's Attorney General's office said on Monday that the court
03:48has issued an arrest warrant for opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, accusing him of conspiracy
03:54and other crimes amid a dispute over whether he or President Nicolas Maduro won a July
04:00election.
04:01Attorney General Tariq Saab shared a photo of the warrant with Reuters via a message
04:06on the application telegram.
04:08The issue of an arrest warrant against Gonzalez would amount to a major escalation in Maduro's
04:14government's crackdown against the opposition following the disputed election.
04:20Venezuela's national electoral authority and its top court have said Maduro was the victor
04:25of the July 20 election with just over half of the votes, but tallies shared by the opposition
04:31show a resounding victory for Gonzalez.
04:34The warrant follows weeks of comments from top government officials saying Gonzalez and
04:39other members of the opposition should go to jail.
04:43This man has the nerve to say he doesn't recognize laws.
04:46He doesn't recognize anything.
04:49What's up with that?
04:51That's unacceptable, Maduro said in a broadcast on state television.
04:56Citizens agree that laws have to work and that officials do their job, Reuters report
05:01reads in quote.
05:03Maduro's attorney general filed the warrant for the arrest of the 75-year-old former diplomat
05:08as part of what he said was an investigation into the opposition's publication of voting
05:13machine receipts showing their candidate won more than twice as many votes as the Venezuelan
05:18president, Nicolás Maduro.
05:22Canada government, through the Office of its Global Affairs on Tuesday said, Canada categorically
05:28condemns the arrest warrant issued against Edmundo Gonzalez by Venezuelan authorities.
05:34Canada urges Venezuelan authorities to stop repressive acts that silence democratic voices
05:40and create a climate of fear.
05:42Canada wants more calls on the Venezuelan authorities to begin the transition process
05:47in recognition of the true results of the election.
05:51The rights and freedoms of opposition representatives, civil society and all citizens must be respected.
05:59On the Plain Seashore, a U.S. official reportedly told CNN that, this sends a message all the
06:05way up to the top, seizing the foreign held of States Plain is unheard of for criminal
06:11matters.
06:12We're sending a clear message here that no one is above the law, no one is above the
06:18reach of U.S. sanctions.
06:20The Plain Seashore as we gathered was done by multiple agencies, including Homeland
06:25Security Investigations, Commerce Agents, the Bureau of Industry and Security, and the
06:32Justice Department.
06:34The U.S. also worked closely with the Dominican Republic, which informed Venezuela of the
06:39seashore, according to official reports.
06:42Now, the next steps will pursue in the future, which will give the Venezuelan government
06:48a chance to petition for the airplane, and collect evidence from the Plain, according
06:54to CNN.
06:55Additionally, the U.S. also reimposed sanctions on Venezuela's oil and gas sector earlier
07:01this year in response to the Maduro government's failure to allow a fair election.
07:07After the controversial July 20th election, Venezuela suspended commercial flights to
07:13and from the Dominican Republic.