Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González, who asserts victory in last year's presidential election against President Nicolás Maduro, reported on January 7 that his son-in-law was kidnapped in the capital.

The incident occurred earlier in the day as Rafael Tudares was taking González's grandchildren to school in Caracas.

“This morning my son-in-law Rafael Tudares was kidnapped. Rafael was on his way to my grandchildren's school, aged 7 and 6, in Caracas, to drop them off for the start of classes, and he was intercepted by hooded men dressed in black, who put him in a gold-coloured van. He is still missing at this time,” Gonzalez wrote on X.

No information was provided about the condition of the two grandchildren. Venezuela's central government press office has not responded to requests for comment from the Associated Press.

The abduction comes amid escalating tensions as Venezuela approaches Maduro’s inauguration on January 10. González, a former diplomat, represented the main opposition coalition in July's contested presidential election standing in for the popular leader Maria Corina Machado, who was banned from running on spurious charges by courts loyal to Maduro. He has been living in exile in Spain since September, when authorities issued an arrest warrant for "conspiracy, falsification of documents and usurpation of powers."

A few hours after Gonzalez's announcement, Machado – who is currently in hiding in Venezuela – said on social media that security forces surrounded her 84-year-old mother's residence, set up roadblocks across the neighbourhood and deployed drones overhead, whilst the area experienced a power outage.

"Maduro and company, you have no limits to your evil. Cowards," she wrote in an X post.

The opposition has accused Maduro’s administration of rigging the election and has presented tally sheets covering 80% of votes to substantiate Gonzalez’s victory. International observers, including the United Nations and the Carter Center, have criticised the lack of transparency, as the regime-aligned National Electoral Council (CNE) has yet to release detailed voting records.

González is currently touring the Americas seeking support for his bid to remove Maduro from office before the presidential term commencement. He met on January 6 with US President Joe Biden and Trump administration representative Mike Waltz at the White House.

The opposition leader has yet to detail his strategy for returning to Venezuela or challenging the incumbent’s authority, whilst the ruling United Socialist Party (PSUV) maintains comprehensive control over state institutions and threatened to arrest him should he set foot in the country.

Last week, Maduro’s government offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Gonzalez.