BUENOS AIRES, Argentina — Venezuelan opposition chief Edmundo González, who the United States recognized as the winner of last year’s presidential election, kicked off a tour of Latin America on Saturday, just days before President Nicolás Maduro is set to be sworn in for a third term in defiance of international pressure.
A throng of a few hundred Venezuelan migrants broke into shouts of “Edmundo, Presidente” as González emerged from a conference with Argentine President Javier Milei to wave to supporters from the balcony of the iconic Casa Rosada, or Pink House, in Buenos Aires.
“We are doing whatever the factor of liberty requires,” Milei, an effusive far-correct supporter of the Venezuelan opposition, said as he welcomed González to the presidential palace with honors normally reserved for a head of state.
González, 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 Maduro was declared the winner by the National Electoral Council, which is stacked with governing event loyalists.
In recent weeks, he has been vowing to trip to Venezuela to be sworn in for the presidential term, which according to law must commence on Jan. 10. But he hasn’t said how he plans to profitability or wrest power from Maduro, whose event controls all institutions and the military.
On Thursday, Maduro’s government raised the stakes even further, announcing a $100,000 reward for information on González’s whereabouts and plastering the wanted-like bulletin with the retired diplomat’s photo on social media and the arrivals board at the country’s main airport.
Upon arrival to the Argentine financing, where he twice served as Venezuela’s ambassador more than two decades ago, González posted on social media a short video communication expressing solidarity with those imprisoned in Venezuela as part of a crackdown by Maduro.
He said that he would raise with Milei concerns about the well-being of five Maduro opponents who have been sheltering in the Argentine ambassador’s residence in Caracas for nearly 10 months — a diplomatic standoff that has embittered relations between Venezuela and Argentina.
The Biden administration and most European governments have rejected the election’s official results, pointing out that authorities didn’t provide detailed results as they have in history elections. Meanwhile, copies of tally sheets collected by the opposition from 85% of the country’s electronic voting machines display that González prevailed by a more than two-to-one spread.
González, 75, was a previously unknown career diplomat when he was thrust into rallying the anti-Maduro coalition as a last-minute stand-in for opposition stalwart María Corina Machado, whom the government banned from running for office.
After speaking with Milei on Saturday, González is scheduled to cross the Rio de la Plata for a conference with Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou.
