A member of the Venezuelan opposition and former political prisoner, Gilber Caro, was arrested in Miami following a fatal crash where he fled the scene, as reported by local police. Caro, aged 50, was charged with leaving the scene of a crash involving death on Monday, according to a Miami police arrest report. He is associated with Voluntad Popular, the party of former opposition leader Juan Guaido. Caro was among a group of opposition lawmakers and politicians who were pardoned and released from prison in Venezuela in 2020.
Caro was driving an SUV early Monday when he collided with another car at a major intersection, per Miami police. Investigators found that the other vehicle had run a red light, leading to the death of the driver at the scene. Caro left on foot without providing assistance, the police added.
After the crash, Caro contacted the registered owner of the vehicle he had been driving and instructed them to call 911. He was taken into custody about two hours later.
Records from the Miami-Dade jail indicate that Caro was detained on an immigration hold. While no defense attorney was listed in online court records, it was noted that he had been initially represented by the public defender’s office during a bond hearing on Tuesday. The public defender’s office mentioned they were unsure if they would continue representing Caro and declined to provide further comments on the matter.
Venezuela’s major opposition parties recently united behind a single candidate for the upcoming presidential election in July after facing internal divisions and boycotts of previous elections that hindered their efforts to overthrow the ruling party. The parties put forth former diplomat Edmundo González to challenge President Nicolás Maduro in the election.
Although electoral authorities loyal to the ruling party declared Maduro as the winner, they did not release vote counts supporting his victory claims. Conversely, the opposition asserted that González had prevailed over Maduro by a 2-to-1 margin, presenting data from over 80% of the electronic voting machines utilized in the July 28 election as evidence.
On Monday, a judge issued an arrest warrant for González.