(3 Jan 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
La Guaira, Venezuela - 3 January 2025
1. Various of airport screen showing banner of opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez
2. Various of poster at airport showing Gonzalez
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Caracas, Venezuela - 3 January 2025
3. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Nahum Fernandez, Caracas governor:
++
"We are not worried at all by what Edmundo (Gonzalez) does. He knows that if he comes to this country, it is to place himself at the orders of the Venezuelan justice system. So far, the government of Spain has protected him. They gave him a protection measure. I believe they have not respected it because he is operating politically in Venezuela."
4. Various of Caracas governor Nahum Fernandez speaking at a rally
5. Various of downtown Caracas showing military officials with guns on the street
6. SOUNDBITE (Spanish) Mariela Peralta, teacher:
“I think that right now Venezuelans are surprised with this news that they are looking for Edmundo and even placing signs. I don't really know who they are looking for, because they know where our president is. They know that we are waiting for him, for this change that is really required.”
7. Various of Mariela Peralta, 40 year-old teacher, sitting at a square on eastern Caracas, using her phone
STORYLINE:
The government of Venezuela Thursday announced a $100,000 reward for information on the whereabouts of Edmundo González, the opposition candidate who claims to have defeated President Nicolás Maduro in last year's election.
By Friday, a few posters with pictures of opposition member Edmundo González being wanted by the government can already be seen in Venezuela’s capital International airport.
The announcement came eight days before Venezuela's next presidential term is set to begin.
“A $100,000 reward is offered to anyone who provides information about his location,” the press office of the country’s Scientific, Criminal and Forensic Investigations Agency said in the caption of an Instagram post showing a wanted-like bulletin with Gonzalez's photo and instructions to turn him in to authorities.
Hours after the government's announcement, González’s campaign said the former ambassador would kick off an international tour with a visit to Argentina, where he would meet with President Javier Milei on Saturday.
González left Venezuela in September for exile in Spain after a judge issued a warrant for his arrest as part of an investigation linked to the July 28 presidential election, which the country’s National Electoral Council, stacked with ruling-party loyalists, said was won by Maduro.
Venezuela's capital has a strong military presence near the downtown area while the government packs the streets with cultural and sporting events.
Ruling party member and Governor of Caracas, Nahum Fernandez, is leading the government-sponsored events that attempt to keep supporters on the streets.
They say it is an effort to prevent anti government violence that may arise.
"We are not worried at all by what Edmundo (Gonzalez) does. He knows that if he comes to this country, it is to place himself at the orders of the Venezuelan justice system," said Fernandez to the Associated Press.
AP Video by Juan Arraez
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