Venezuela seeks arrest of ex-opposition leader Juan Guaido

Oct. 6 (UPI) -- Venezuelan authorities have issued an arrest warrant for former opposition leader Juan Guaido, who has been living in exile in the United States since April.

Tarek William Saab, the attorney general of the South American nation, announced the arrest warrant Thursday for Guaido on charges of "premeditated and negligent management" of assets belonging to state-owned oil company Petroleos de Venezuela, also known as PDVSA.

The charges leveled against the former opposition leader accuse him of using PDVSA resources to enrich himself via paying his own legal expenses and by forcing the company to accept his financing terms, at a loss of some $19 billion to the country.

Saab said a request will also be made for Interpol to issue a "red notice" to member countries "so that this subject pays for the crimes."

Guaido denied the allegations in a statement on X, formerly known as Twitter, and in a video on Instagram.

"The regime attacks again," Guaido said in the statement, "with one of its favorite weapons, the kidnapping of justice."

Guaido had been at the center of an international movement to remove Venezuela's dictator president of Nicolas Maduro since his 2018 re-election, which was widely discredited and declared illegitimate by the National Assembly, the last independent branch of government until it was taken over by the ruling United Socialist Party in January 2021.

The United States ceased recognizing Maduro as president in 2019 and threw its support behind Guaido, who, as president of the National Assembly, appointed himself interim president of a transitional government. Nearly 60 countries supported his leadership.

Under the administration of President Donald Trump, the United States applied increasing pressure on Maduro in an effort to unseat him, but U.S. policy shifted under the administration of President Joe Biden, which has sought to resolve the political crisis via negotiations. It also supported the National Assembly's decision in January to dissolve the interim government.

The 40-year-old politician has been living in the United States since April when he arrived in Miami over concerns about his safety and that of his loved ones and supporters.