Venezuela: Washington recognizes Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as president

The United States said on Tuesday it recognized opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the elected president of Venezuela, an announcement immediately deemed “ridiculous” by Caracas.

“The people of Venezuela spoke resoundingly on July 28th and made @EdmundoGU President-elect,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken wrote on the social network

“Democracy requires respect for the will of voters,” he added from Rio de Janeiro where he participated in the G20 summit alongside President Joe Biden.

“Our people’s desire for change”

The United States did not recognize Nicolas Maduro’s victory in the July 28 presidential election, of which he was proclaimed winner by the National Electoral Council and the Supreme Court – considered to be on the orders of those in power – to the great dismay of the opposition, which cries fraud and claims the victory of its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.

Washington went so far as to say that the latter had won the greatest number of votes but this is the first time that he speaks openly of “president-elect”. “We deeply appreciate the recognition of the sovereign will of all Venezuelans. This gesture honors our people’s desire for change and the civic gesture we made together on July 28,” wrote Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, also on X, in response.

Since the contested re-election of Nicolas Maduro, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia has taken refuge in Spain and the leader of the opposition, Maria Corina Machado, lives in hiding.

A hard line against Venezuela and Cuba

In Rio on Monday, the head of American diplomacy met with several of his Latin American counterparts where the situation in Venezuela was discussed, according to a press release from the State Department. This American recognition comes in the midst of a transition of power in the United States before Donald Trump takes office on January 20.

He appointed Senator Marco Rubio as the new head of diplomacy, who will be the first Hispanic to hold this position and is in favor of a hard line against Venezuela and Cuba.

During his first term (2017-2021), Trump imposed a policy of maximum pressure to try to oust President Maduro from power.

“An avowed enemy of Venezuela”

Venezuela described as “ridiculous” on Tuesday the recognition by the United States of opponent Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the “elected president” of Venezuela, four months after the presidential election whose victory attributed to Nicolas Maduro was contested.

«Ridicule […] Blinken, an avowed enemy of Venezuela, insists on starting again (with Gonzalez Urrutia) this time with a Guaido 2.0 supported by fascists and terrorists subordinate to American policies,” according to the text of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs which refers to Juan Guaido , self-proclaimed president in 2019 and recognized as interim president by the United States.

“In the last days of his government, he [Blinken] should devote himself to reflecting on his failures […] and write memoirs on how the Bolivarian Revolution made him bite the dust of defeat, just like his predecessors,” writes Minister Yvan Gil. According to him, Blinken “sunk, with his puppets, trying to overthrow Venezuelan democracy.”

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