(Reuters) – Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, who says he won a resounding victory in July's presidential election but is living in Spain after an arrest warrant was issued for him, said on Thursday that he will travel to Argentina this weekend.
Gonzalez's “international tour” comes days before President Nicolas Maduro's inauguration for a third term on January 10.
Gonzalez has repeatedly said he intends to return to Venezuela for his inauguration as president, despite an outstanding arrest warrant for alleged conspiracy and a $100,000 reward for information leading to his arrest announced earlier on Thursday by Venezuela's police investigative unit.
Venezuela's largest opposition group said Gonzalez will meet Argentine President Javier Miley, who is embroiled in an escalating diplomatic dispute with Maduro's government, at the presidential residence in Buenos Aires.
Gonzalez shared the post, adding, “Our tour begins in Latin America. First stop: Argentina.” It is not clear where Gonzalez intends to travel.
The country's electoral authorities and Supreme Court say Maduro won the July election, but have not published vote totals at the polls.
The Venezuelan opposition, a number of Western countries, and some international organizations criticized the elections, describing them as opaque and calling for the full publication of ballot papers, with some publicly describing the process as fraudulent.
The opposition posted ballot box statistics on a public website, saying they showed that Gonzalez, who left Venezuela for Spain in October, easily won the election.
The Argentine government said earlier on Thursday that it had filed a complaint with the International Criminal Court against Venezuela over its detention of a member of its security forces, describing this as an “enforced disappearance.”
Venezuelan prosecutors say the man is under investigation for his alleged links to terrorism.
