Venezuela’s government offers reward for opposition presidential candidate’s arrest

Venezuela’s Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia thanks parliament members after delivering his speech as he and compatriot Maria Corina Machado are awarded the EU’s top human rights honour, the Sakharov Prize (Pascal Bastien/AP)

Venezuela’s government has announced a 100,000 dollar reward for information on the whereabouts of Edmundo Gonzalez, the opposition candidate who claims to have defeated President Nicolas Maduro in last year’s election.

The announcement on Thursday night came eight days before Venezuela’s next presidential term is set to begin.