Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whose reelection for a third term is contested by the opposition, accused his presidential election opponent Edmundo González Urrutia on Saturday of seeking to "flee" Venezuela. At a large rally supporting him outside the presidential palace in Caracas, Maduro shouted, "Where is Edmundo González Urrutia hiding? Did he win? What did he win? Maybe a lottery," adding, "He is in a cave. He is planning to escape from Venezuela. Edmundo González Urrutia will take the money and go to Miami."
The National Electoral Council confirmed Maduro's victory at the beginning of August with 52% of the votes without providing the precise vote count or reports from polling stations, indicating that it had been subjected to data hacking. According to the opposition, which published the electoral reports obtained through its auditors, their candidate González Urrutia, who replaced opposition leader María Corina Machado after authorities declared her ineligible, won the elections with 67% of the votes, a result that Maduro rejected. A large part of the international community has questioned the official results after they were published by the National Election Commission.
The Venezuelan Attorney General announced that a criminal investigation was opened against González Urrutia and Machado on several charges, including "usurpation of power, dissemination of false information, incitement to disobey laws, incitement to rebellion, and criminal conspiracy." Maduro has repeatedly called for their imprisonment, blaming them for the violence that followed the elections. González Urrutia has not been seen publicly since July 30.
### Confiscation of Opposition Truck
The opposition announced that the open-roof truck used in its rallies was confiscated on Saturday following a march in Caracas against Maduro's reelection. Members of the opposition campaign team posted a picture of the truck—used for several months during the electoral campaign—being towed by a national police vehicle. The opposition wrote on the platform "X": "The regime stole the truck. They cannot stop us from continuing to take to the streets!"
The truck became famous as it featured a raised platform used during rallies and was adorned with large images of opposition leader Machado and candidate González Urrutia, with the phrase "Venezuela has triumphed" on its sides. Given that the government imposes sanctions on companies that deal with the opposition, the truck was a solution the opposition found to avoid the need to rent platforms and loudspeakers. On Saturday, Machado, who is living in hiding, used the truck to speak to the crowd before leaving it and quickly getting on a motorcycle to disappear from sight.
The opposition confirmed that the truck was seized after the gathering when "we were about to secure it." Authorities were not immediately available for comment.
