Venezuela opposition leader recognized by US as election victor embarks on Latin America tour

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BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA – Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, recognized by the United States as the winner of last year’s presidential election, began a tour of Latin America on Saturday, just days before President Nicolas Maduro is sworn in. For a third term in defiance of international pressure.

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A crowd of a few hundred Venezuelan migrants exploded chanting “Edmundo, president” when Gonzalez emerged from a meeting with Argentine President Javier Miley to wave to supporters from the balcony of Buenos Aires’ famous Casa Rosada, or Pink House.

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“We are doing everything the cause of freedom requires,” said Miley, a far-right supporter of the Venezuelan opposition, as he welcomed Gonzalez to the presidential palace with the honors usually reserved for a head of state.

Gonzalez, a retired diplomat, fled into exile in Spain in September after a judge issued an arrest warrant following the July 28 presidential election, in which the National Electoral Council, which includes a large number of ruling party loyalists, declared Maduro the winner. .

In recent weeks, he pledged to travel to Venezuela to be sworn in for a presidential term, which according to law must begin on January 10. But he has not said how he intends to return or wrest power from Maduro, who is in power. The party controls all institutions and the army.

On Thursday, Maduro’s government raised the stakes even further, announcing a $100,000 reward for information on Gonzalez’s whereabouts and plastering a wanted-like flyer with the retired diplomat’s photo on social media and an arrivals board at the country’s main airport.

“I will be there by any means necessary” on January 10, Gonzalez said in response to a journalist’s question following his meeting with Argentina’s foreign minister.

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Gonzalez, who twice served as Venezuela’s ambassador to Argentina for more than two decades, used his visit to highlight the plight of hundreds of Venezuelans who remain imprisoned as part of Maduro’s post-election crackdown.

During his meeting with Miley, the two discussed the health of five Maduro opponents who had been sheltering in the Argentine ambassador’s residence in Caracas for nearly 10 months. Maduro’s government cut ties with Argentina and expelled its diplomats after Miley and other regional leaders refused to recognize Maduro’s re-election.

But it denied safe passage to activists holed up in the diplomatic compound so they could seek refuge in exile in Argentina. As part of the diplomatic confrontation, last month Maduro’s government also arrested a member of the Argentine National Guard as he entered the country, and accused him of terrorism. Argentina said that Officer Nahuel Gallo traveled to Venezuela to visit his wife and her family, who are from Venezuela.

An estimated 220,000 Venezuelans are believed to reside in Argentina, part of a mass exodus of more than 7 million who have fled political turmoil, economic chaos and political repression by Maduro since 2014.

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Janet Avila, a 51-year-old teacher who left Venezuela two years ago, was among those gathered outside the presidential palace to greet Gonzalez.

She said: “I am very grateful to the Argentines, they have been beautiful to me, but I want to go back to my home, to be with my family.”

The Biden administration and most European governments rejected the official results of the elections, noting that the authorities did not provide detailed results as they did in the past elections. Meanwhile, copies of tally sheets compiled by the opposition from 85% of the country’s electronic voting machines show Gonzalez won by a margin of more than two to one.

Gonzalez, 75, was a previously unknown diplomat when he was thrust into rallying the anti-Maduro coalition as a last-minute replacement for opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who has been barred by the government from running for political office.

After speaking with Miley on Saturday, Gonzalez is scheduled to cross the Rio de la Plata to meet Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou.

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