The Venezuelan opponent in exile Edmundo González Urrutia is expected in the United States on Sunday, where he is due to meet with President Joe Biden, as part of a continental tour a few days before the inauguration in Caracas of Nicolas Maduro, whom he claims to have beaten in the July election.
Edmundo González Urrutia, a 75-year-old ex-diplomat, arrived in Uruguay on Saturday from Argentina, meeting their leaders each time.
It is unclear when the interview with Mr. Biden will take place.
“We have planned a conversation with President Biden and we are waiting for details regarding the new authorities” American, declared Mr. González Urrutia during a press conference in Buenos Aires, referring to Donald Trump, whose return to the White House is scheduled for January 20.
The former candidate in the last Venezuelan presidential election also plans to visit Panama on Wednesday, then the Dominican Republic the next day.
The United States, like the European Union, Argentina and Uruguay, do not recognize Mr. Maduro's victory in the Venezuelan presidential election in July.
Arriving in Uruguay on Saturday afternoon, Edmundo González Urrutia met with Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou and Foreign Minister Omar Paganini.
The discussion focused on “the institutional crisis resulting from the refusal of the Chavista dictatorship to recognize the result of the election, and on the political persecution of which (Mr. González Urrutia) is a victim”, according to a press release from Uruguayan diplomacy.
“We are going to obtain the restoration of our Venezuela and the release of all political prisoners,” Mr. González Urrutia told the press after the interview.
– “Freedom, freedom!” –
Earlier on Saturday, the Venezuelan politician met in neighboring Argentina with head of state Javier Milei, according to whom his country “will not be complicit in silence in the face of the injustices and abuses of the Maduro regime”, according to a press release.
The same day, hundreds of Venezuelans gathered in the famous Plaza de Mayo, opposite Casa Rosada, the Argentine presidential palace. From a balcony, the opponent, alongside Mr. Milei, greeted the crowd who cheered him.
“One of the most moving moments I have experienced! Venezuelans, we will meet again in the streets of our beloved country,” he commented on the X network.
Waving flags, participants in this rally chanted “Freedom, freedom!”.
Luis Soto, a 27-year-old Venezuelan student who emigrated to Argentina more than six years ago, held a sign that read: “Do the right thing, president.”
Edmundo González Urrutia, to whom Spain officially granted asylum on December 20, repeated to the press that he would return to Venezuela “simply to take full possession” on January 10, in place of Nicolas Maduro , of the “mandate that the Venezuelans gave (to me).
“We hope that (the current Venezuelan president) will contribute to a peaceful and orderly transition,” he added.
– Fortes tensions –
Mr. González Urrutia's trip to Argentina took place at a time when Venezuelan authorities are offering a reward of $100,000 for information leading to his capture and when tensions between Caracas and Buenos Aires have increased following the arrest in Venezuela of an Argentine gendarme accused of “terrorism”, a “lie” according to Argentina.
Diplomatic relations between these two countries were severed by Venezuelan authorities after Javier Milei questioned the re-election of Nicolas Maduro.
Nicolas Maduro was proclaimed winner of the July 28 presidential election by the National Electoral Council – considered to be under the orders of those in power -, while the Venezuelan opposition is crying fraud.
Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia, who had presented himself at short notice to replace María Corina Machado, declared ineligible, found refuge in Spain in September while the leader of the opposition has been living in hiding in Venezuela since the election.
