Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who fled the country after a tumultuous election and subsequent police crackdown, said Saturday he plans to speak with U.S. President Joe Biden.
Speaking in Argentina, where he met with President Javier Milei, Gonzalez added that he was traveling to the United States on Sunday, although it was unclear when the conversation with Biden would take place.
“We are planning a conversation with President Biden and we are waiting for definitions regarding the new authorities,” Gonzalez said from the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, referring to new President-elect Donald Trump, who is due to take office on January 20. .
Gonzalez’s meeting with Milei came at the start of a regional tour aimed at building international support for the man Venezuela’s opposition considers the legitimate president-elect.
The 75-year-old appeared alongside Milei on a balcony at the Casa Rosada, the Argentine president’s official workplace, as hundreds of Venezuelans gathered below in the Plaza de Mayo chanted “Venezuela, you don’t You’re not alone!”
The appearance came just days before Gonzalez’s rival, Nicolas Maduro, was sworn in for a third presidential term in Caracas.
The United States, European Union and dozens of other countries say Venezuelan election officials manipulated the July 28 election results, which they have yet to release in detail.
Some countries instead recognized Gonzalez as the winner.
Gonzalez arrived quietly in Buenos Aires from Madrid, where he has lived in exile since fleeing Venezuela in September. Authorities in Caracas have offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
Street protests broke out after the election and escalated into clashes with police, leaving 28 people dead, 200 injured and more than 2,400 arrested.
Gonzalez’s schedule calls for him to travel to Uruguay on Saturday evening, Panama on Wednesday and the Dominican Republic the next day.
He announced that he would travel to Caracas on January 10 to be sworn in as president. It is still unclear what the Maduro government’s reaction will be.
Gonzalez’s visit to Argentina comes amid heightened bilateral tensions following the arrest in Venezuela of an Argentine police officer on what Buenos Aires considers to be trumped-up terrorism charges.
Relations were already strained following an exchange of insults and, ultimately, Argentina’s refusal to recognize Maduro’s claims to victory.
The Argentine embassy in Caracas is also housing six opposition figures accused of “terrorism”, a matter Gonzalez had said he would raise with Milei.