Pastrana and 30 other former Ibero-American leaders call on ICC to order Maduro's arrest

A coalition of former Ibero-American heads of state urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro for crimes against humanity and state terrorism.

The IDEA group, led by former Colombian President Andrés Pastrana, composed of 31 former heads of government from Venezuela's neighbouring region, have called on the ICC to issue the warrant for Maduro and those within his chain of command.

This appeal follows a controversial July presidential election in which Maduro was declared the winner, despite widespread international concerns over the transparency of the vote. The opposition claims there concrete evidence that the incumbent was actually defeated.

Protests erupted across the country after the contested results, leading to at least 23 deaths, dozens of injuries, and thousands of arrests.

"There was no electoral fraud, but a coup d'état," Pastrana told Euronews, adding that a document signed by dozens of former leaders from Latin America and Spain urged the ICC to fulfil its "preventive function" and take "corresponding actions to protect the civilian population in Venezuela."

Pastrana stated that these actions should include issuing an international arrest warrant against Maduro.

The signatories of the document assert that "crimes against humanity" and the "systematic repression" of the Venezuelan people, along with opposition leaders, are "the work of an operational military structure, whose chain of command is directly exercised by Nicolás Maduro Moros, in his capacity as active military personnel and commander in chief."

The ICC had previously opened an investigation into Venezuela following allegations of crimes against humanity coming from several Latin American countries and Spain.

However, that investigation has so far continued without directly targeting any names at the top of the state.

Pastrana told 'Euronews' that, with the complaint filed in The Hague, IDEA want to draw attention to the direct responsibility of those involved in what he denounces as a systematic persecution of, among others, journalists, electoral witnesses and politicians.

"Those directly responsible for crimes