Edmundo González has become a beacon of hope for millions of Venezuelans. They want to call him president. He believes he won that office at the ballot box last year. The government of President Nicolás Maduro says he did not.

Edmundo González, who is recognized by the United States as the president-elect of Venezuela, said his son-in-law was kidnapped by hooded men.

Venezuela’s exiled opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia has urged the Venezuelan military to recognize him as their commander-in-chief and “put an end to the leadership” of President Nicolás Maduro,

Edmundo González said his son-in-law, Rafael Tudares, was kidnapped while on his way to drop off González's two grandchildren at a school in Caracas.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has urged supporters to demonstrate across the country, telling them in a video message that President Nicolás Maduro will not step down on his own and they “must make him leave.

She claimed his generals fear being abandoned by allies Russia and Iran following the collapse of the Syrian regime, with which Maduro’s government had strong ties. “Don’t you think that Maduro has seen himself [reflected] in the eyes of [Bashar] al-Assad?