International OAS chief calls for charges and arrest warrant for Maduro

The Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, wants to apply to the International Criminal Court in The Hague for an arrest warrant against Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro. "It is time for justice", he said on Wednesday (local time) at an emergency meeting of the organization in Washington.

Almagro blamed Venezuela's authoritarian head of state for the violence following Sunday's controversial election, in which Maduro was declared the winner despite allegations of fraud. According to non-governmental organizations, several people died in the protests.

Before the election, Maduro had warned of a bloodbath and civil war in the South American country if he was not re-elected. It is outrageous that Maduro is now carrying out this bloodbath, said Almagro. Premeditation, malice and cruelty are involved.

"It is time to press charges and request an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court against the main perpetrators, including Maduro," Almagro wrote on Platform X. "We will request this indictment with an arrest warrant," he also said at the meeting in Washington.

The International Criminal Court has been investigating Maduro's government for years for alleged crimes against humanity in the country. The government in Caracas rejects the accusations.

Organization fails to find a common line

At the emergency meeting of the OAS, the organization's Permanent Council was unable to reach a common position on the situation in Venezuela. A resolution calling for the publication of detailed election results and a guarantee of freedom of assembly, among other things, failed to gain a majority. Seventeen member states voted in favor of the draft, eleven abstained and five other countries did not send a representative to the meeting in Washington.

The OAS, founded in 1948 and headquartered in Washington, is supposed to strengthen peace on the American continent according to its statutes. However, there have always been tensions within the confederation. Maduro's government unilaterally declared Venezuela's withdrawal from the organization years ago and accused it of being in the service of "imperialism".