Venezuela's opposition is rallying behind an unknown former diplomat to challenge Nicolas Maduro in this summer's presidential election, the latest gambit to unseat the self-declared socialist, whose lock on power seems all but assured.
On Friday night, all 10 parties in the chief opposition coalition announced they would back Edmundo González to be their candidate on the July ballot. Within hours, a catchy campaign jingle set to salsa music started circulating on social media declaring “Todo el mundo con Edmundo” — “The entire world with Edmundo.”
The surprise show of unity adds to mounting international pressure on Maduro and his allies to allow Venezuelans a free and fair vote to decide who they want to lead the oil-rich South American nation for the next six years. Polls show that if given half a chance, Venezuelans would overwhelmingly vote to boot Maduro from office.
However, numerous obstacles remain to González' candidacy. Chief among them is a legal challenge, now with the Maduro-stacked Supreme Court, seeking to strike his party's ticket from the ballot altogether.
González is the third presidential candidate selected by the Democratic Unity Platform in the the past month after former lawmaker Maria Corina Machado, who easily won an opposition primary last year, and her handpicked alternative were both banned from registering.
“We're advancing Venezuelans,” Machado said on X, formerly known as Twitter, following the announcement of González's candidacy.
Even among Venezuela's opposition, few have heard of the 74-year-old former diplomat. González began his professional career as an aide to Venezuela's ambassador in the U.S. and served as Caracas' ambassador to Algeria. His last post was as Venezuela's ambassador to Argentina during the first years of Hugo Chavez's presidency. More recently, he's worked as an international relations consultant, writing about recent political developments in Argentina as well as authoring a historical work on Venezuela's foreign minister during World War II.
The opposition bloc was allowed to provisionally register González on March 26 after the government came under a wave of criticism when opposition leaders said they were blocked from registering their candidate of choice. Saturday was the deadline to make his placeholder candidacy final or replace him with another individual.
Maduro’s administration has cracked down on the opposition during the run-up to the July 28 presidential election despite promises to pave the way to fair elections in exchange for sanctions relief. The Biden administration on Wednesday re-imposed crushing oil sanctions, criticizing Maduro’s moves. The leftist leaders of Colombia and Brazil also have expressed concern.
Venezuelan Foreign Minister Yvan Gil has called the criticism a “gross interference in matters that only concern Venezuelans.”
Maduro, a self-proclaimed socialist leader, officially launched his candidacy last month for a third term that would last until 2031.
The election is likely to have more than 10 candidates, but apart from the main opposition coalition, none are expected to pose a threat to Maduro’s power base.
Follow AP’s Latin America coverage at https://apnews.com/hub/latin-america
FILE - Supporters of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who has been banned from running for office, attend a rally where she asked them to keep the faith, in San Antonio, Venezuela, April 17, 2024. On Friday, April 20, 2024, all 10 parties in the chief opposition coalition announced they would back an unknown former diplomat, Edmundo González, to be their candidate on the July 28th ballot. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
FILE - Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who has been banned from running for office, attends a rally where she asked supporters to keep the faith, in San Antonio, Venezuela, April 17, 2024. On Friday, April 20, 2024, all 10 parties in the chief opposition coalition announced they would back an unknown former diplomat, Edmundo González, to be their candidate on the July 28th ballot. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos, File)
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump returned to Manhattan court on Friday as his hush money trial entered its 11th day, capping a frenzied second week of witness testimony.
Lawyer Keith Davidson concluded his testimony Thursday after spending nearly 6 1/2 hours on the stand over two days. He laid out for jurors details of his negotiations with Michael Cohen and the National Enquirer on behalf of Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal, not shying away from an election night realization that his efforts might have contributed to Trump's 2016 win.
Forensic analyst Douglas Daus also took the stand, testifying about what he found on Cohen's cellphone. Among other things, Daus said Cohen had nearly 40,000 contacts saved to the device.
Thursday's proceedings included a contempt hearing over whether the former president had again violated his gag order.
Merchan heard from both sides about four more prospective violations, including comments Trump made about the jury. Prosecutors said they were seeking only fines and not jail time for the potential violations. An immediate decision was not made and it was unclear when Merchan would rule.
Prosecutors have said that Trump and others conducted a scheme to illegally influence the 2016 election by purchasing and burying salacious stories that might hurt his campaign.
Trump is accused of falsifying internal business records to cover up hush money payments — including $130,000 given to Daniels, a porn actor, by Cohen — recording them instead as legal expenses.
Trump has pleaded not guilty to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records.
The case is the first-ever criminal trial of a former U.S. president and the first of four prosecutions of Trump to reach a jury.
Currently:
— Donald Trump moves much of his White House campaign to New York
— Key players: Who’s who at Donald Trump’s hush money criminal trial
— The hush money case is just one of Trump’s legal cases. See the others here
— Trial begins for financial executive in insider trading case tied to taking Trump media firm public
Here's the latest:
Georgia Longstreet, a paralegal with the Manhattan district attorney's office, was called as the next witness in Donald Trump's hush money case on Friday.
She has been assigned to the Trump case for the past year and a half and her role has been to review publicly available records relevant to the case, including Trump’s social media accounts on the social platform X — formerly known as Twitter — Facebook, LinkedIn and Truth Social.
Picking up where he left off on Thursday, Trump attorney Emil Bove plied Douglas Daus, the forensic analyst, with a set of deeply technical questions Friday meant to suggest that Michael Cohen may have doctored a 2016 recording played in court the previous day.
As evidence, Bove noted that the audio cuts off suddenly, as well as “gaps” in the handling of the phone that Daus agreed were “not ideal.”
Prosecutors say the abrupt ending of the recording was the result of Cohen receiving another call. Under questioning from Bove, Daus said there was no record of an incoming call in the phone’s metadata — but said it would be difficult to say for sure without looking at call log data from Cohen’s phone carrier.
“In many ways, we’re just going to have to take Michael Cohen’s word for it, aren’t we?” Bove said.
“Yes,” Daus replied.
With that, Bove concluded his cross-examination.
Before testimony resumed in Donald Trump's hush money trial, Judge Juan M. Merchan ruled to prevent prosecutors from showing the jury a photograph of Trump with Billy Bush and soap opera actor Arianne Zucker at the time of the infamous “Access Hollywood” recording.
Trump lawyer Todd Blanche had asked for the image to be excluded from the trial, pointing to a recent court decision overturning Harvey Weinstein’s rape conviction. In that case, the appeals court ordered a retrial because the judge had allowed testimony at trial unrelated to the allegations.
Merchan said the appeals court decision “doesn’t really factor into this” case, noting that the ruling had not laid out any new law, but nevertheless agreed to block prosecutors from introducing the photograph.
Prosecutors had said the image would help establish the timeline of the revelations about the “Access Hollywood” tape, in which Trump could be heard bragging about grabbing women without permission.
Merchan has previously ruled the 2005 tape cannot be played in court for jurors, but said prosecutors can still question witnesses about the recording.
Trump lawyer Emil Bove on Friday morning resumed cross-examination questioning of Douglas Daus, a forensic analyst at the Manhattan district attorney’s office who extracted recordings, text messages and other evidence from two of Michael Cohen’s iPhones.
Judge Juan M. Merchan started the trial day also by clarifying that Donald Trump’s gag order doesn’t prohibit him from testifying on his own behalf, apparently responding to comments the former president made after court the day before.
“The order restricting extrajudicial statements does not prevent you from testifying in any way,” Merchan said, adding that the order does not in any way limit what Trump says on the witness stand.
Merchan directed his comments to Trump and his lawyers, saying it had come to his attention that there may have been a “misunderstanding” regarding the order.
Speaking to reporters before heading into court on Friday, Donald Trump clarified comments he made the day before about his gag order, saying it does not stop him from testifying in the case but it does keep him from “talking about people and responding when they say things about me.”
After court adjourned on Thursday, Trump had responded to questions about what he’d thought of the day’s testimony.
“I’m not allowed to testify. I’m under a gag order,” he said, causing some confusion. The gag order bars him from making public statements about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to the case.
He also commented on the latest job numbers showing that U.S. employers scaled back hiring in April and said they’re “horrible.”
Donald Trump has arrived at the courthouse in Manhattan for the 11th day of his hush money trial.
Hope Hicks, who served as Donald Trump's 2016 campaign press secretary and went on to hold various roles in his White House, could testify in his hush money trial as early as Friday.
The two people who described her forthcoming appearance to The Associated Press insisted on anonymity to discuss internal trial preparations.
Hicks spoke with Trump by phone during a frenzied effort to keep his alleged affairs out of the press in the final weeks before the election.
Associated Press writers Eric Tucker in Washington and Jake Offenhartz in New York contributed to this report.
Despite not yet having testified in Donald Trump's hush money case, Michael Cohen has been very present in the courtroom — in audio recordings of conversations he had and in witness testimony.
On Thursday, jurors heard a taped call between Cohen and Keith Davidson, Stormy Daniels' former attorney, wherein Cohen could be heard telling Davidson about a conversation he'd had with someone believed to be Trump.
“I can’t even tell you how many times he said to me, ‘You know, I hate the fact that we did it.’ And my comment to him was, ‘But every person that you’ve spoken to told you it was the right move,’” Cohen said in the recording.
The panel also heard a recording of Cohen briefing Trump in September 2016 on the plan to buy former Playboy model Karen McDougal’s story. That particular recording included Cohen detailing that he'd spoken to then-Trump Organization Chief Financial Officer Allen Weisselberg about “how to set the whole thing up with funding.”
Cohen, who is the prosecution's star witness, was Trump's lawyer and personal fixer at the time.
Court proceedings in Donald Trump's hush money case will end early on Friday to accommodate an important appointment one of the jurors has in the late afternoon.
Judge Juan M. Merchan announced the scheduling change just before adjourning court on Thursday. Court will end at 3:45 p.m. Friday, about 45 minutes earlier than normal.
Donald Trump is expected to return to court Friday morning for the 11th day of his hush money trial as the second week of witness testimony wraps up.
Thursday's proceedings saw the former president facing yet another contempt hearing, this time over four more prospective violations of his gag order.
While Judge Juan M. Merchan did not immediately rule on the sanctions request from prosecutors, he told defense attorneys he was concerned about three of the potential violations — including comments that Trump made about the political makeup of the jury. Merchan said he wasn't worried about a comment Trump made last week calling former Enquirer publisher David Pecker a “nice guy.”
Prosecutors said they were only seeking fines and not jail time over the potential violations.
Trump is barred under a gag order from speaking publicly about witnesses, jurors and some others connected to the case. He was fined $9,000 on Tuesday over nine online posts.
The introduction has been updated to correct the spelling of the last name of forensic analyst Douglas Daus, from Daul.
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan criminal court in New York, on Friday, May 3, 2024. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Friday,, May 3, 2024. (Doug Mills/The New York Times via AP, Pool)
Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Friday,, May 3, 2024. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump appears at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Friday,, May 3, 2024. (Jeenah Moon/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Charly Triballeau/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump sits inside Manhattan Criminal Court, Thursday, May 2 2024. (Mark Peterson/Pool Photo via AP)
Former President Donald Trump arrives at Manhattan criminal court before his trial in New York, Thursday, May 2, 2024. (Charly Triballeau/Pool Photo via AP)
