VENEZUELA-OPPOSITION/ROSALES-INTERVIEW In interview, Venezuela's former presidential candidate said he knew he could face arrest for returning home

Record ID: 135553

  • Title: VENEZUELA-OPPOSITION/ROSALES-INTERVIEW In interview, Venezuela's former presidential candidate said he knew he could face arrest for returning home
  • Date: 16th October 2015
  • Summary: MARACAIBO, VENEZUELA (OCTOBER 15, 2015) (REUTERS) A RALLY IN SUPPORT OF ROSALES MANUEL ROSALES'S WIFE, EVELING DE ROSALES, AT THE RALLY MORE OF THE RALLY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) MANUEL ROSALES'S WIFE, EVELING DE ROSALES, SAYING: "Manuel Rosales has once again shown his love, his care and more than anything, his nobility. They will never bring him to his knees in front of an
  • Embargoed: 31st October 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Aruba
  • Country: Aruba
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA6B1EUE5AKEYY0W2LHUQ87A3FM
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: EDITORS PLEASE NOTE: EDIT CONTAINS MATERIAL WHICH WAS ORIGINALLY 4:3
    Former Venezuelan presidential candidate Manuel Rosales said he wanted to go home to Venezuela even though he was well aware of the possibility of being arrested following his six years in exile, he told a Colombian news source Thursday (October 15).
    Indeed, Rosales was arrested minutes after landing in Venezuela on Thursday (October 15) six years after he fled to Peru when the government of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez accused him of "illicit enrichment."
    Before boarding a commercial flight to Maracaibo, Venezuela, from nearby Aruba on Thursday, Rosales told Colombia's NTN24 via Skype that he knew he might be detained once he landed in his home country.
    "I decided to return to Venezuela because at times of crisis, when your country is being threatened and in danger, like what is happening in Venezuela… when it looks like we are on the verge of chaos, like we are going towards a cliff, the leaders, political leaders have to step up, take a clear position, take all the necessary risks, but present a plan, contribute to the planning and the defence to try stop the country from being destroyed. That is why I am going," Rosales said.
    His lawyer, Jesus Ollarves, said Rosales had expected to be arrested but returned anyway at the request of his family and political party, and because he came to believe that "exile is the worst prison."
    "This (going to jail) is part of the struggle. It is one of the risks. It is part of what the country needs from us. (Being in) exile is really just a big prison and if I have to go to prison, I will go to a smaller prison. There will be different limitations, but ultimately, we make efforts with a great deal of nobility and inspiration to succeed, to help bring about the change Venezuela demands," he added.
    Rosales, who served two terms as governor of Venezuela's most populous state of Zulia, joins a list of opposition figures including protest leader Leopoldo Lopez who have been jailed by the government of President Nicolas Maduro.
    Intelligence agents took Rosales into custody after he landed in Maracaibo, where hundreds of supporters had gathered at a rally to support him.
    He was then taken to Caracas in police custody where the state prosecutors' office said in a statement that it would resume judicial proceedings against him that were interrupted when he left the country.
    Rosales' arrival and detention may help mobilise the opposition in the run-up to the December 6 parliamentary elections, which polls show will be among the toughest ever for the ruling Socialist Party and a test for President Nicolas Maduro.
    Rosales received little attention after being defeated by Chavez in 2006 and has been off the political radar since leaving the country.
    His wife, Eveling de Rosales, joined supporters in a rally in his support in Maracaibo.
    She voiced a note of defiant support of her husband.
    "Manuel Rosales has once again shown his love, his care and more than anything, his nobility. They will never bring him to his knees in front of an impostor government," she said.
    Manuel Rosales was charged in 2008 with improperly reporting his income while he was Zulia governor and of registering income the origin of which he could not explain to the comptroller general, according to state prosecutors.
    In view of the opposition figure's return to his home country, Venezuelan Interior Minister Gustavo Gonzalez listed some of the accusations Rosales faces on state television on Thursday.
    "Corruption, illicit enrichment by the acquisition of goods and properties, embezzlement of funds designated for the national government, allegedly committing crimes of embezzlement and of personal improper use," he said.
    Rosales fled to Peru in 2009 before the first hearing of his trial. He is barred from holding office until 2022 through a separate decision by the comptroller general.
    His supporters have said the accusations against him are part of a political witch hunt.
    Chavez had called him a "thief" and said "Manuel Rosales, I will sweep you from the political map of Venezuela."
    Critics have said that Maduro, Chavez's successor, is increasingly criminalising dissent and using the justice system to intimidate dissidents.
    Maduro has said that jailed opposition leaders sought to destabilise the country through often violent street protests in 2014 that left more than 40 people dead.
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