The Latin American Report # 310

_{Will Chavismo imprison González Urrutia? (source of the image).}

A court in Caracas blessed on Monday an arrest warrant by the Public Prosecutor's Office against former presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, in a risky move by chavismo but connected to its narrative in the midst of the electoral crisis. González Urrutia is over 70 years old, which in principle saves him from being preventively deprived of his freedom, although the Venezuelan Organic Code of Criminal Procedure does provide for the possibility that when a precautionary measure against persons in that age group is indispensable, house arrest or confinement in a specialized center may be ordered.

The authorities foresee that once González Urrutia is apprehended he will be placed immediately at the disposal of the Public Prosecutor's Office, which “must present him before (the court) within 48 hours after his apprehension”. This could be a move to force González to seek refuge outside the country, as Miraflores knows that the former opposition candidate is not very brave (for the citizens who voted for him, it would have been a decisive incentive if he had been willing to fight PSUV in the streets or even before the judiciary, but the old former diplomat opted for “clandestinity”).

_Source

The Attorney General is investigating him for allegedly committing crimes such as “disobedience of laws”, “forgery of public document”, and “usurpation of functions”, the last two related to a website managed by the opposition containing copies of electoral records that would validate its claim that it won the game against Chavismo. González has signed at least one public document in which he assumes himself as President-elect, a condition that certainly within the Venezuelan institutional framework can only be granted by the National Electoral Council.

The latter is a fact, even though one may discuss—with good reasons—the independence and impartiality of that institution, which more than a month after the elections has not published the disaggregated data validating the controversial victory granted to the political heir of Hugo Chávez. Now, I also find interesting the strategy of Chavismo to prosecute González and not María Corina Machado, who in the end has been the real architect of the entire opposition movement and particularly of the actions that Edmundo is accused of.

_Source

United States seizes in Dominican Republic a plane used by Maduro

The Department of Justice today seized a Dassault Falcon 900EX aircraft that it alleges was fraudulently acquired by “persons affiliated with Maduro” sometime between late 2022 and early 2023 through a Caribbean-based shell company, at a cost of approximately $13 million based on the value of that model at the time.

The aircraft was then illegally exported from the United States to Venezuela through the Caribbean in April 2023. Since May 2023, the Dassault Falcon, bearing tail number T7-ESPRT, has flown almost exclusively to and from a military base in Venezuela and has been used for the benefit of Maduro and his representatives, including to transport Maduro on visits to other countries.

The extraterritorial tentacles of the U.S. government had grounded the aircraft since May while it was undergoing maintenance on Dominican soil. Santo Domingo has ended up validating Washington's sanctions against high-ranking Venezuelan officials, including Maduro himself, something that has raised strong reactions of rejection from Caracas, as was to be expected. “Venezuela denounces before the international community that once again, the authorities of the United States of America, in a recidivist criminal practice that cannot be qualified as anything other than piracy, have illegally confiscated an aircraft that has been used by the President of the Republic”, said the Bolivarian Foreign Ministry.

Musk vs. de Moraes (connected somehow to the seized Venezuelan aircraft affair)

A senior official at telecommunications regulator Anatel said sanctions against Starlink for noncompliance could include the revocation of its license to operate in Brazil (source).

ARGENTINA: MILEI'S ADMINISTRATION, AGAINST ACCESS TO PUBLIC INFORMATION

And this is all for our report today. I have referenced the sources dynamically in the text, and remember you can learn how and where to follow the LATAM trail news by reading my work here. Have a nice day.