US Recognizes Edmundo González as President-elect of Venezuela

venezuela - The United States has officially recognized Edmundo González as the elected president of Venezuela, as announced by Secretary of State Antony Blinken.

In a statement released on X, former Twitter, Blinken stated, "The Venezuelan people clearly spoke on July 28 and chose Edmundo González Urrutia as president-elect. Democracy requires respect for the will of the voters."

While the Biden administration acknowledged González Urrutia as the winner of the elections on August 1, they had so far refrained from declaring him as the chosen president of Venezuela.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) immediately declared Nicolás Maduro as president of Venezuela shortly after the polls closed. Despite Maduro's promise, the organization, influenced by the autocratic president, has not yet published the election results.

The unified opposition, gathered under the Democratic Unity Platform (PUD), has declared Edmundo González Urrutia as the winner of the elections. Leading the opposition, opposition leader María Corina Machado has published the results from 81.8% of the polling stations, showing that González won the elections with 67% of the votes (7.1 million voters) against 30% for Nicolás Maduro (3.2 million voters).

Nicolás Maduro's regime rejects Washington's recognition of Edmundo González as president-elect and labels Blinken as a pronounced enemy of Venezuela. Minister of Foreign Affairs Yván Gil stated that González, who took refuge in Spain in early September, is supported by "fascists and terrorists subordinate to the battered American policy."

The reason for the Biden administration now proclaiming Edmundo González as president-elect is that Maduro's inauguration for a third term is scheduled for January 10. A senior US government official told EFE news agency that this does not imply that the US recognizes him as the Venezuelan president but emphasizes the American stance in considering him as the election winner. This differs from the situation surrounding opposition leader Juan Guaidó, who was referred to as the 'legitimate president' of Venezuela by the first government of Donald Trump in 2019.

In addition to the united opposition of Venezuela and the United States, Edmundo González is regarded as the winner of the presidential elections on July 28 by the European Union and numerous countries in Latin America.

The dissatisfaction over the regime of Nicolás Maduro disregarding the election results led to massive protests in Venezuela after the elections. Around 2400 Venezuelans were arrested, and 24 protesters lost their lives due to violence. According to the human rights organization Foro Penal, Venezuela currently has 1976 political prisoners, including 69 minors.

Edmundo González spent over a month in hiding in the residence of the Dutch chargé d'affaires in Caracas. A day after the elections, the Netherlands granted a request for assistance from González, fearing for his safety, allowing him to stay in the Dutch diplomatic residence "for as long as necessary." Since Spain granted political asylum to González on September 8, he has been living in exile in Madrid.