Venezuelan opposition leader who claims to have defeated Maduro to meet Biden at White House
Venezuela's opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia holds an Uruguayan and a Venezuelan flag outside the government residence in Montevideo, Uruguay, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025. Gonzalez, who claims he won the 2024 presidential election and is recognized by some countries as the legitimate president-elect, traveled from exile in Madrid to Argentina and Uruguay. (AP Photo/Matilde Campodonico)
By ZEKE MILLER and REGINA GARCIA CANO Associated Press
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — The Venezuelan opposition leader who claims to have defeated President Nicol谩s Maduro in last year’s presidential election will meet with U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday at the White House, a senior administration official confirmed to The Associated Press.
The meeting comes as Edmundo Gonz谩lez, a retired diplomat who represented Venezuela’s main opposition coalition in the July presidential election, tries to rally support for his effort to get Maduro out of office by Friday, when by law, the South American country’s next presidential term begins. The U.S. government official was not authorized to discussed details of the visit publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
Gonz谩lez began a tour of the Americas on Saturday with stops in Argentina and Uruguay. His campaign called on Venezuelans living in the Washington area to gather Monday outside the offices of the Organization of American States.
Meanwhile, Maduro already received an invitation from the National Assembly to be sworn in for a third six-year term Friday, more than five months after the National Electoral Council, stacked with ruling-party loyalists, declared him winner of the July 28 election.
Unlike previous presidential elections, electoral authorities did not provide detailed vote counts. However, the opposition collected tally sheets from more than 80% of the nation’s electronic voting machines, posted them online and said they showed Gonz谩lez had won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.
The U.S. and most European governments have rejected the election’s official results and consider Gonz谩lez the legitimate winner.
The U.S.-based Carter Center, which Maduro’s government invited to observe the presidential election, has said the tally sheets published by the opposition are legitimate.
When asked on Monday about Gonz谩lez’s plans. Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello insulted the politician, attacked his credibility and threatened him with arrest. He also insisted that Maduro would be sworn in Friday.
“Coward,” Cabello said referring to the retired diplomat, whom he accused, without offering any proof, of being a CIA agent. “He has neither courage nor disposition… Mr. Gonz谩lez Urrutia knows that as soon as he steps in Venezuela he will be arrested.”
Gonz谩lez, who represented the Unitary Platform coalition, left Venezuela for exile in Spain in September after a judge issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with an investigation into the publishing of the election’s tally sheets. Last week, the government announced a $100,000 reward for information on Gonz谩lez’s whereabouts.
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Miller reported from Washington, D.C.