Venezuela orders arrest of top opposition figures for treason

Venezuela’s top prosecutor has accused several top opposition figures of treason and ordered their arrest on Wednesday. This is the latest blow to the prospects for credible elections that the government has agreed to hold next year in return for lifting crippling US economic sanctions.

The attorney general, Tarek William Saab, said opponents of the left-wing government had accepted money from ExxonMobil to sabotage President Nicolás Maduro’s recent referendum on the annexation of a large, oil-rich region in Guyana. The oil company was not immediately available for comment.

Mr Saab did not say what specifically the suspects had done to thwart the referendum, but he said they would be charged with treason, conspiracy, money laundering and criminal association. He announced arrest warrants for fifteen people, including several prominent opposition figures, including people living abroad and two US citizens.

The Biden administration has tried to persuade Venezuela to hold elections, easing some of the damaging US sanctions. In October, the government reached an agreement with the opposition on steps towards a vote, and last week it agreed that candidates barred from running could appeal the punishment to the country’s highest tribunal.

But Maduro’s government has also repeatedly undermined the opposition’s ability to mount a meaningful challenge.

More than 2.4 million Venezuelans voted in October in the opposition presidential primaries, which were held without official government support. Since then, the government has questioned the legitimacy of the primaries, legally attacked the primaries’ organizers and barred the primary winner, María Corina Machado, from running for office for 15 years. income when she was a legislator. Three of the people Saab accused on Wednesday are members of Ms Machado’s political party and live in Venezuela.

Since Maduro came to power in 2013, following the death of Hugo Chávez, the combination of growing repression, rampant corruption and sanctions has made life much harder for ordinary Venezuelans and caused millions to leave the country. Under Maduro, international observers have called the country’s elections illegitimate.

With the accusations of treason, President Biden must decide whether to continue betting that sanctions relief will convince Mr. Maduro to allow a real vote, said Geoff Ramsey, a senior fellow for Venezuela at the Atlantic Council.

“I think Maduro is really forcing Biden’s hand here,” he said. “It has become clear that he cannot win free and fair elections, so he needs Washington to roll back sanctions to justify a crackdown that allows the regime to return to the status quo.”

On Sunday, Venezuela held a referendum, backed by Mr Maduro, on whether to annex Guyana’s Essequibo region. Mr Maduro has portrayed the issue as a battle with ExxonMobil, the US oil company that has a deal with the Guyanese government. His critics say the vote was nothing more than an attempt to distract from his political problems by stoking nationalist enthusiasm.

The government reported a vote of more than 95 percent in favor. Although political analysts, social media users and New York Times journalists reported poor turnout, the government claimed it was high, with 10.5 million votes cast.

“With the inflated voting numbers, they have simply become a mockery,” said Christopher Sabatini, a senior research fellow for Latin America at Chatham House, an international affairs research group in London. “Things really seem to be falling apart.”

The Essequibo region, with enormous mineral and oil wealth but few inhabitants, is almost the size of Florida and covers almost three-quarters of the total area governed by Guyana. Venezuela and Britain both claimed it in the 19th century, and the dispute has continued since Guyana gained independence from Britain in 1966. The matter is currently being investigated by the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

At the same time Mr. Saab was giving his news conference, Ms. Machado, a former center-right lawmaker, was holding one of her own at her party’s headquarters in Caracas, saying the referendum had damaged the credibility of the electoral authority.

As news of the charges and arrest warrants spread on social media and across the room where Ms. Machado spoke, her aide pulled her campaign manager from the stage and whispered in her ear. Afterwards, another party leader took the stage to say they were waiting for formal notification from the attorney general.

The three indicted party members left the headquarters without making statements. They are the Coordinator of International Relations, Pedro Urruchurtu; the political coordinator, Henry Alviarez, and the communications coordinator, Claudia Macero.

The Americans accused by Mr. Saab are Damian Merlo, an adviser who advised El Salvador’s authoritarian President Nayib Bukele; and Savoi Jandon Wright. Mr. Saab gave no information about Mr. Wright other than to say he was already in custody in Venezuela.