Washington recognizes Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuela's “president-elect”

Photo: Miguel Riopa Agence France-Presse “This gesture honors our people's desire for change and the civic gesture we made together on July 28,” wrote Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia on X in response.

Léon Bruneau – Agence France-Presse and Patrick Fort – Agence France-Presse respectively in Washington and Caracas

Published at 18:26 Updated at 19:16

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The outgoing US administration of Joe Biden announced Tuesday that it was recognizing Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the country's president-elect, something that President Nicolas Maduro's regime has called “ridiculous.”

“The Venezuelan people spoke resoundingly on July 28 and made @EdmundoGU the president-elect,” wrote the head of American diplomacy Antony Blinken on the social network X.

“Democracy requires respect for the will of the voters,” he added from Rio de Janeiro, where he participated in the G20 summit alongside President Biden, who will leave power on January 20 to hand it over to Republican President-elect Donald Trump.

Washington had not recognized Nicolas Maduro's victory in the presidential election of July 28, of which he was declared the winner by the National Electoral Council and the Supreme Court — considered to be at the beck and call of the government — to the great displeasure of the opposition, which cries fraud and claims victory for its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia.

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The United States had claimed that the latter had won the largest number of votes, but without ever officially speaking of “president-elect.”

“We are deeply sensitive to the recognition of the sovereign will of all Venezuelans. This gesture honors our people's desire for change and the civic gesture that we made together on July 28,” rejoiced Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia, also on X.

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Clandestinity

Since the contested re-election of President Maduro, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia has fled to Spain and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been living in hiding.

In Rio on Monday, Antony Blinken met with several Latin American counterparts to discuss the situation in Venezuela, according to the State Department.

Caracas’ reaction has not late.

“Ridiculous […] Blinken, an avowed enemy of Venezuela, insists on starting over [with Gonzalez Urrutia] this time with a “Guaido 2.0″ supported by fascists and terrorists subordinate to American policy,” thundered the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, referring to Juan Guaido, self-proclaimed president in 2019 and then recognized as interim president by the United States.

“In the last days of his government, he [Blinken] should devote himself to reflecting on his failures […] and writing the memoirs on how the Bolivarian revolution made him bite the dust of defeat, just like his predecessors,” attacked Foreign Minister Yvan Gil, accusing his American counterpart of “trying to overthrow Venezuelan democracy.”

Washington's recognition comes in the midst of a transition of power between the Biden administration and that of President-elect Trump.

The 45th and soon to be 47th President of the United States has appointed Republican Senator Marco Rubio, the son of Cuban immigrants, the first Hispanic to hold the State Department and a hard-line advocate against Venezuela and Cuba.

During his first term (2017-2021), Donald Trump imposed a policy of maximum pressure in an attempt to oust President Maduro from power.

Neither the United States, nor the European Union, nor several Latin American countries recognize the election of Mr. Maduro, in power since 2013.