Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González begins international tour: NPR

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González, whom the United States recognized as the winner of last year’s presidential election, began an international tour Saturday that will take him to Washington just days before the swearing-in of President Nicolas Maduro. for a third term, in defiance of international pressure.

A crowd of a few hundred Venezuelan migrants shouted “Edmundo, Presidente” as González emerged from a meeting with Argentine President Javier Milei to greet supporters from the balcony of the iconic Casa Rosada, or Pink House, in Buenos Aires .

“We are doing everything that the cause of freedom demands,” Milei, a staunch far-right supporter of the Venezuelan opposition, said as he welcomed González to the presidential palace with the honors normally reserved for a head of state.

González, a retired diplomat, went into exile in Spain in September after a judge issued an arrest warrant following the July 28 presidential election, in which Maduro was declared the winner by the National Electoral Council, which has many loyalists of the ruling party.

In recent weeks, he has promised to travel to Venezuela to take the oath of office for the presidential term, which by law must begin on January 10. But he did not specify how he plans to return or retake power from Maduro, whose party controls all institutions and the army.

“By any means necessary, I will be there” on Jan. 10, González said.

On Thursday, Maduro’s government upped the stakes again, announcing a $100,000 reward for information on González’s whereabouts and posting on social media and on the arrivals board at the country’s main airport the search bulletin with the photo of the retired diplomat.

González told a news conference that he would travel to the United States on Saturday evening, where he hopes to speak with President Joe Biden, after a brief stop in Uruguay for a meeting with President Luis Lacalle Pou. He also plans to visit Panama and the Dominican Republic as part of his impromptu regional tour.

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

During his meeting with Milei, the two men discussed the well-being of five Maduro opponents who have been sheltering in the residence of the Argentine ambassador in Caracas for almost 10 months. Maduro’s government severed relations with Argentina and expelled its diplomats after Milei and other regional leaders refused to recognize Maduro’s re-election.

But he denied activists holed up in the diplomatic complex safe passage so they could go into exile in Argentina. As part of the diplomatic standoff, Maduro’s government also arrested an Argentine national guard last month as he entered the country, accusing him of terrorism. Argentina said the officer, Nahuel Gallo, had traveled to Venezuela to visit his wife and family, who were originally from Venezuela.

An estimated 220,000 Venezuelans reside in Argentina – part of an exodus of more than 7 million people who have fled political unrest, economic chaos and Maduro’s political repression since 2014.

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

“I am very grateful to the Argentinians, they have been nice to me, but I want to go home, to be with my family,” she said.

The Biden administration and most European governments have rejected the official election results, pointing out that authorities had not provided detailed results as they had in previous elections. Meanwhile, copies of tally sheets collected by the opposition from 85 percent of the country’s electronic voting machines show that González won by a margin of more than two to one.

González, 75, was a previously unknown career diplomat when he was pushed to join the anti-Maduro coalition as a last-minute replacement for opposition stalwart María Corina Machado, who the government had barred from stand for election.