“Come and get me, coward”: Chavismo’s threats to González Urrutia before leaving the country

This Monday, Nicolás Maduro said that he “respects” the democratic leader Edmundo González Urrutia for his decision to go into exile in Spain in the face of threats from his regime to arrest him. He even called him “ambassador” and wished him well “in his new life.”

This statement contrasts with the insults and threats expressed by the Chavista leader after the elections of July 28, in which the National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner but the opposition, with evidence in hand published on a website, claims that González Urrutia won by a wide margin.

On July 30, in the wake of a series of spontaneous protests that left 24 people dead and thousands arrested, the president challenged the diplomat and demanded that he come out from where he was “hiding” and go to the Miraflores Palace to meet with him.

“Come and get me, I’ll be waiting for you here in Miraflores, Mr. González Urrutia, don’t take too long to get here, coward, come and get me, coward”said the head of State from the headquarters of the Executive, despite the fact that the opposition leader was not sheltered anywhere at that time, since that same week he led an activity on a street in Caracas, where he gathered thousands of people who supported him.

In front of hundreds of followers, whom he asked to mobilize “every day” to “restore peace, tranquility and normality,” Maduro said: “Show your face, show your face to me, stop attacking the people, Mr. coward (…) where are you hiding, Mr. coward?”

The president blamed the opposition candidate and María Corina Machado, his ally in the presidential campaign and the main leader of the Democrats, for supporting “terrorist” acts, in reference to the protests in Caracas and other states of the country against the result of the presidential elections offered by Elvis Amoroso, president of the CNE.

After these threats, judicial pressure began. The Prosecutor’s Office, controlled by Chavismo, summoned González Urrutia to appear before the authorities to answer for the publication of the minutes with which the opposition supports its victory in the elections of July 28. The diplomat, indicated the summons, had to answer to a criminal investigation for the alleged crimes of usurpation of functions, forgery of public documents, instigation to disobedience of the law, computer crimes, association to commit a crime and conspiracy.

“He must come to speak about his responsibility before July 28, during July 28 and after July 28, for his contumacy and his disobedience to the legitimately constituted authorities,” said the Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, in reference to González Urrutia, who was also declared in contempt by the Supreme Court of Justice for not attending the hearings to which he was summoned.

The Prosecutor’s Office then issued two more summons to which González Urrutia refused to attend. Instead He sent a letter through his lawyer, José Vicente Haroin which he requested respect for procedural guarantees that, he claimed, were not present in the summons of the Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The diplomat stated in the letter that his failure to appear was not due to a lack of knowledge of the jurisdictional institutionality provided for in the Constitution, but rather “due to the conviction that such summonses are unfounded and for reasons that concern the public interest and the correct understanding of the law and the right, whose essential purposes are justice and peace.”

“I believe that such an appearance could only contribute to further intensifying social tension, in addition to consolidating a context of incriminating judicialisation of politics that we should all reject,” said the opposition member.

He stressed: “It was not my responsibility to digitize, safeguard and publish the copies of the voting minutes that our witnesses received at the voting tables,” as the Democratic Unitary Platform had stated at the time.

Saab, annoyed, said that González Urrutia’s letter was “totally out of place.”

“The communication submitted is totally out of place, in order to justify and declare himself above the law and the State, because he is a normal, ordinary citizen,” he said.

He added: “This letter sets a very negative precedent for Venezuelan law. This sector believes itself to be above the law, the law, and religion.”

Given the diplomat’s position, a court specializing in terrorism-related crimes issued an arrest warrant against the Democratic leader at the request of the Public Prosecutor’s Office. The Public Prosecutor’s Office then reported on Instagram that, once the arrest was made, the candidate had to be placed at the disposal of the prosecutor’s office, which had to “present him to (the court) within 48 hours of his arrest.”

According to that document, the purpose was to hold an “oral hearing in the presence of the parties and resolve what was relevant,” since the opponent was accused by the State of having committed several crimes.

Faced with pressure and threats, González Urrutia opted to request political asylum in SpainA Spanish Air Force plane was tasked with transporting the diplomat to the European country, a moment that demoralized a large part of the population who were hoping for a change in the country.

Already in Spain, the diplomat published a statement in which he stated: “I have done this thinking of my family and all Venezuelan families in these moments of so much tension and anguish.. I did it so that things would change and we could build a new era for Venezuela.”

He also called for a policy of dialogue and considered that “only democracy and the realization of the popular will can be the path to our future as a country,” something to which he will remain committed.

Right now, he said, the freedom of political prisoners is his top priority and an unwavering demand.