MIAMI.- The elected president of Venezuela, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia denounced the kidnapping of his son-in-law Rafael Tudares this January 7 in the morning, when he was going to school for his little children, ages 7 and 6, in Caracas, the capital of the country.
González, who hopes to be sworn in on Friday, January 10, reported on his networks that Tudares, husband of his daughter Mercedes who lives in Caracas, was intercepted by hooded men dressed in black, and they forcibly took him away in a colored van. gold, plate AA54E2C. He didn’t point out the place.
“At this time he is missing”said González Urrutia.
Given the kidnapping of his son-in-law, the Venezuelan president canceled the rest of the agenda he was carrying out in the United States, as part of the international tour he undertook in search of support for his inauguration on January 10.
“The rest of the agenda in Washington is suspended”his team informed reporters in the US capital,
While minutes later, the public opponent in his X account was heading to Panama, where he will be received by the Panamanian president, José Raúl Mulino, at least nine former presidents of the IDEA Group and foreign ministers of the region.
Is it a crime to be family of Edmundo González Urrutia?
Tudares and his wife Mariana González, daughter of González Urrutia, saw a commission from the Special Affairs Division (DAE) of the DGCIM and the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), around their residence in Caracas, according to reports.
Then, Tudares was intercepted by the hooded and black men, alleged officials, when they were traveling in the truck.
Mercedes González de Tudares denounced that her husband was detained in front of their children, who today “will feel the absence of their father,” as have been felt by the more than 2,000 relatives of the political prisoners who were detained within the framework of the post-electoral repression.
The daughter of the president-elect affirmed that her husband, who is “protective” of the family, is “innocent of everything that can be accused of him. “At what point did it become a crime to be a family member of Edmundo González Urrutia? Is that why they took my husband away? What are you accused of?”he questioned.
“With firmness and my head held high, I repeat, Rafael Tudares has NOT committed any crime. There is no persecution that will break the conviction of an innocent person, nor a montage that can make the TRUTH invisible,” he stated in a statement published in X.
Kidnapping condemned
Upon learning of the kidnapping by unknown individuals linked to the Nicolás Maduro regime, which occurs three days before González’s inauguration, scheduled for Friday the 10th, various personalities condemned the fact as having serious political implications.
The Secretary General of the OAS, Luis Almagrodemanded the “immediate and unconditional release” of Tudares; while the US Embassy for Venezuela condemned “the attempts by Maduro and his representatives to intimidate the democratic opposition” of Venezuela.
“Repression and intimidation cannot hide the truth”noted the US office.
For its part, the Democratic Unitary Platform, the main opposition coalition, described the kidnapping of González Urrutia as “a new case of forced disappearance.”
“We demand the immediate release of Rafael Tudares and all political prisoners, who are hostages of a regime that knows that it is rejected by the vast majority of Venezuelans that we spoke to with the force of the vote on July 28,” he stated.
In view of the eventual swearing-in, the Maduro regime has intensified political repression against opponents and has threatened to imprison González Urrutia if he were to enter Venezuelan territory. Meanwhile, senior officials of the regime hold meetings with armed groups in another attempt to terrorize the population, according to the network report.
González Urrutia, who is on tour in several countries, held meetings this Monday with the president of the United States, Joe Biden, and with President-elect Donald Trump’s Security Advisor, Mike Waltz, as well as at the OAS, with the aim to obtain support for his inauguration. Many governments have recognized his status as elected president, rejecting Maduro’s fraudulent mandate.
