Venezuelan opposition politician Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who fled the country after a tumultuous election and subsequent police crackdown, said Saturday he has plans to speak with US President Joe Biden.Appearing in Argentina, where he met with President Javier Milei, Gonzalez Urrutia added that he was traveling to the United States on Sunday, though it was unclear when the conversation with Biden would take place.”We are planning a conversation with President Biden and we are waiting for details regarding the new authorities,” Gonzalez Urrutia said in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, referring to incoming US president Donald Trump, set to take over on January 20.Gonzalez Urrutia’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 rightful president-elect.The 75-year-old appeared alongside Milei on a balcony of the Casa Rosada, the Argentine president’s official workplace, as hundreds of Venezuelans gathered below on the Plaza de Mayo chanted “Venezuela, you are not alone!””Argentina will not be complicit in silence in the face of the injustices and abuses of the Maduro regime,” Milei said in a statement Saturday.The appearance came just days before Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro — whose government led a crackdown on the opposition following the election — is set to be sworn in for a third presidential term in Caracas.The United States, the European Union and dozens of other countries say Venezuelan election officials manipulated the results of the July 28 elections, which they have yet to publish in detail.Some countries have recognized Gonzalez Urrutia as the clear winner, with Maduro recognized by a handful of others, including Russia.- Living in exile -Gonzalez Urrutia arrived in Buenos Aires quietly from Madrid, where he has lived in exile since fleeing Venezuela in September. Authorities in Caracas have offered a reward of $100,000 for information leading to his capture.Street protests erupted after the election and degenerated into clashes with police, with 28 people dead, 200 wounded and more than 2,400 arrested.Gonzalez Urrutia will travel to Panama on Wednesday and the Dominican Republic the day after.The opposition figure says he will be in Caracas on January 10 to be sworn in as president. It remains unclear how the Maduro government will respond.Gonzalez Urrutia’s visit to Argentina came amid heightened bilateral tensions following the arrest in Venezuela of an Argentine policeman on what Buenos Aires says are trumped up charges of terrorism.The relationship was already strained following an exchange of insults and, ultimately, Argentina’s refusal to recognize Maduro’s victory claim.The Argentine embassy in Caracas has also been sheltering six opposition figures accused of “terrorism” — a matter Gonzalez Urrutia had said he would take up with Milei.After his visit to Argentina, Gonzalez Urrutia arrived in Montevideo on Saturday afternoon for talks with Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou and Foreign Minister Omar Paganini.During their meeting, Gonzalez Urrutia shared with Lacalle a copy of the electoral records that the Venezuelan opposition says proves their victory.Their talks focused on “the institutional crisis” arising from the Venezuelan administration’s “refusal to recognize the election result, and on the political persecution of which (Gonzalez Urrutia) is a victim”, according to an Uruguayan government statement.”We will obtain the restoration of our Venezuela and the release of all political prisoners,” Gonzalez Urrutia told reporters after the meeting.
Sun, 05 Jan 2025 09:39:09 GMT
