Former Venezuelan political prisoner arrested in Miami after a fatal hit-and-run crash, police say

MIAMI (AP) — A Venezuelan opposition member and former political prisoner has been arrested in Miami after fleeing the scene of a fatal crash, police said.

Gilber Caro, 50, was charged Monday with leaving the scene of a crash involving death, a Miami police arrest report said. Caro is a member of former opposition leader Juan Guaido’s party, Voluntad Popular. Caro was part of a group of opposition lawmakers and politicians who were pardoned and released from jail in Venezuela in 2020.

According to Miami police, Caro was driving an SUV early Monday morning when he crashed into a car at a major intersection. Crash investigators determined that the other vehicle had run a red light, and the driver died at the scene. Caro left the area on foot without rendering aid, police said.

Several hours after the crash, Caro called the registered owner of the vehicle he had been driving, officials said. He told the owner he had been in a crash and to call 911. Caro was arrested about two hours later.

Caro was being held at the Miami-Dade jail on an immigration hold, according to jail records. Online court records didn’t list a defense attorney, but they did show that he had been represented by the public defender’s office during a Tuesday bond hearing. Officials at the public defender’s office didn’t know whether they would be representing Caro further and didn’t comment on the case.

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Venezuela’s main opposition parties managed to line up behind a single candidate for July’s presidential election after years of divisions and electoral boycotts that torpedoed their ambitions to topple the ruling party. The parties were represented by former diplomat Edmundo González who faced off against President Nicolás Maduro.

Ruling party-loyal electoral authorities declared Maduro the winner, but they never released vote tallies backing his claim to victory. Meanwhile, the opposition claimed González defeated Maduro by a 2-to-1 margin and offered as proof vote tallies from more than 80% of the electronic voting machines used in the July 28 election.

Late Monday, a judge issued an arrest warrant for González.