The son-in-law of Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González has been kidnapped.
“Rafael was on his way to the school of my seven- and six-year-old grandchildren in Caracas to drop them off at the beginning of class when he was kidnapped by masked men dressed in black,” González added. up on X Tuesday.
He said they took him away in a gold colored van.
After the presidential election in Venezuela last July, González claimed victory.
The US and several Latin American countries recognize him as the winner but the electoral authority, which is loyal to the government, declared the authoritarian ruler Nicolás Maduro as the winner.
Maduro, who has been in power for almost 12 years, is to be sworn in for another term in office on Friday.
González traveled to Spain in early September and applied for political asylum there.
The 75-year-old had announced that he would return home and be sworn in on Friday, but decided to stay away with an arrest warrant issued to him.
If he enters the country, González will be arrested and tried on charges of sabotage, conspiracy and abuse of office, according to Venezuela's Interior Minister, Diosdado Cabello.
Protests by opposition supporters have been violently suppressed by the Venezuelan state in the past.
According to the non-governmental organization Foro Penal, there were almost 1,800 political prisoners by the end of 2024.
