Venezuelan Attorney General Calls for the Arrest of Opposition Activists

Tarek William Saab, Venezuela's Attorney General, requested the issuance of an arrest warrant against three activists belonging to Venezuela's opposition coalition, the Unitary Platform, on Monday for allegedly assaulting a member of the National Assembly in the vicinity of the Central University of Venezuela. The victims of the alleged assault, Inacio Da Costa and Adrianlis Gila, filed a formal complaint with the Prosecutor's Office leading Saab to request a warrant for attempted murder, personal injury, and conspiracy against the pair..A Reported Political Attack.The alleged attackers are reportedly members of Vente Venezuela, Venezuela's leading opposition party and member of the Unitary Platform, the country's leading opposition alliance who's candidate is set to face off against President Nicolas Maduro on Sunday's elections. Saab claimed the members of Vente Venezuela belonged to an "extremist group" within the party before identifying one of the alleged perpetrators as Antony Vega who according to the Attorney General is a "former prisoner prosecuted for terrorism," and had made death threats to those assaulted..The attack originally occurred on Friday, when those charged with the crime approached Da Costa alongside others before being hit with a liquor bottle in both his head and arms resulting in documented lacerations to the MP's person. Despite the claims that Vega and his group launched the attack for political purposes, the Federation of University Centers UCV (FCU-UCV), a student operated organization which represents the interests of students at the University of Venezuela, painted a different picture in a statement issued following the incident. In the statement, the university stressed that while they rejected the violence which occurred on the grounds of the campus, the attack had been misrepresented in order to be "politically instrumentalized."."Finally, we see with concern the misrepresentation of the events that occurred in order to be politically instrumentalized, when the nature of this conflict does not respond in any way to partisan rants." the FCU-UCV said in the statement. "We demand that political parties abstain from resorting to such baseness in order to position their interests outside the university campus and correct their actions towards honest political promotion with values.".Continued Efforts Against the Opposition.This attempt to use the attack against Da Costa is likely part of an ongoing effort by President Nicolas Maduro's to smear the opposition which the president has previously denounced as members of the "far-right" and "fascists" in an effort to lure moderate voters or those otherwise on the fence to the ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) ahead of the scheduled elections on Sunday..This is not the first time Maduro's regime has sought or facilitated the arrest of the political opposition, but a part of a much larger strategy to imprison any dissenters to the autocrat's regime. In late March, six members of the political opposition fled to the Argentine Embassy to Venezuela following the issuance of arrest warrants for the group. After their arrival, the six opened an asylum request to Argentina which was quickly accepted. However, Venezuelan authorities began what has been described as a "siege" on the Argentine Embassy, reportedly cutting power and water to the diplomatic mission.."After issuing an arrest warrant, a siege began on the Argentine embassy in Caracas," said Omar González Moreno, a former deputy and one of the regional coordinators of the party's electoral command. "They have cut off our electricity. Refrigerators, water, and basic services.".The five others consist of Magalli Meda, the campaign manager for Machado; Pedro Urruchurtu, the international coordinator of Vente Venezuela; Humberto Villalobos, an electoral expert; Claudia Macero, who is in charge of the party's communications; and a sixth unnamed person who requested anonymity due to security concerns..The opposition members did not leave the embassy, prompting Venezuela to allow the group to safely depart for Argentina. Despite this, the Venezuelan government swiftly broke its promise, prompting the Argentine government to promise to increase pressure on Maduro's regime. As of this publication, those sheltering in the Argentine Embassy have not been able to escape Venezuela..Also in March, the Venezuelan Intelligence Service, Sebin, arrested Machado's campaign director and regional coordinator, Emill Brandt Ulloa. Just weeks after this arrest, warrants were issued for a number of other key leaders within the opposition party, six of whom fled to the Argentine embassy to apply for political asylum, alleging that the arrest warrants were intended to weaken the party and not for a just cause..On July 17, leader of Vente Venezuela and former presidential candidate, Maria Corina Machado's, head of security was arrested by Venezuelan authorities in what Vente Venezuela claims to have violated "all legal proceedings." Ávila is not the only party member targeted in recent times, with Edmundo Gonzalez's campaign manager in the Monagas state, Angel Aristimuño, arrested on July 13 for unstated reasons..As the election date looms ever closer, Maduro's regime continues to grasp at anything to defame or otherwise impede the ability for the opposition to perform. As the fight against Maduro intensifies, authorities may ramp up on measures to silence dissenters before they can inspire full-blown protests against Maduro's regime.