Venezuelan opposition candidate Gonzalez will not appear before court

Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez will not appear before the country’s high court for a hearing related to an election audit requested by President Nicolas Maduro, his campaign said.

Venezuela’s Supreme Tribunal of Justice on Monday ordered Mr Gonzalez, the candidate of the opposition coalition, Mr Maduro and the other eight candidates in the July 28 presidential election to attend hearings scheduled until Friday.

The hearings follow days of global criticism of Mr Maduro and his loyal National Electoral Council over the election results.

Electoral authorities declared Mr Maduro the winner but have yet to produce voting tallies.

Meanwhile, the opposition claims to have collected records from more than 80% of the 30,000 electronic voting machines nationwide showing he lost.

Mr Gonzalez was first on the list, but in a statement posted on social media, he questioned the legality of the proceedings and expressed serious concerns over his safety.

“I will put at risk not only my freedom but, more importantly, the will of the Venezuelan people expressed on July 28, 2024 and the gigantic effort of the Venezuelans who have participated in this process so that we could obtain evidence of the vote validly cast by the citizens,” he said.

It is unclear whether Mr Gonzalez could face legal consequences over his decision to not appear for the scheduled hearing.

Judge Caryslia Rodriguez, president of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice and its electoral court, during a nationally televised hearing on Monday, warned that failure to appear would entail the corresponding consequences provided by law but did not give any details.

Mr Maduro is last on the list of hearings Judge Rodriguez announced.