Venezuelan opposition candidate Gonzalez won’t appear before court and questions election audit

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo González will not appear before the country’s high court Wednesday for a hearing related to an election audit requested by President Nicolás Maduro, his campaign confirmed to The Associated Press.

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

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

González 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.