The soft-spoken septuagenarian, who is preparing to lead Venezuela into an untapped political era, has promised to bring prosperity, autonomy and develop the sleepy country if elected president, and has vowed supremacy for all voters. – including supporters of his authoritarian rival Nicolas Maduro.
Retired diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia is leading the polls ahead of the South American country’s July 28 presidential election, although he has never sought elected office and was unknown to voters until recently.
Speaking to parents at his home in the capital Caracas, the 74-year-old admitted his transition from retired ambassador to potential leader of the country with the region’s largest proven oil reserves had come as a surprise. . ,
“The truth is that I had no plans to be a presidential candidate…much less to become president,” said González, who retired as Venezuela’s ambassador to Buenos Aires from 1998 to 2002.
This changed suddenly in April when González was the definitive stand-in presidential candidate for the Venezuelan opposition after both its standard-bearer, María Corina Machado, and her stopgap were barred from running by the government. With the help of Machado, a charismatic and outspoken former congresswoman who has spent years making a name for herself as a fierce critic of Maduro’s socialist birthday celebrations, the former ambassador now tops the polls.
“I have no doubt that victory on July 28 is certain. I say this clearly, strongly and with complete joy knowing that we are going to win. “All of the polls we’re looking at right now give us a big advantage over the government candidate,” Gonzalez said over an espresso in a condo that featured population figures and Catholic imagery. Virgin of the Valley and Venezuela’s ‘doctor of the poor’, José Gregorio Hernández.
Perhaps sensing Gonzalez’s looming ultimatum, Maduro has stepped up his verbal attacks on the low-key business diplomat in recent days. “There is an old man who wants to take power in Venezuela,” the 61-year-old incumbent, who has held power since 2013, shouted during an updated rally in the city of Barquisimeto.
Gonzalez, who has long enjoyed worldwide family members and international ties, has avoided taking the bait. “We’re going to create a country where the president doesn’t insult (people),” he said at a recent marketing campaign match, a topic he addressed all through during This Morning’s interview.
Gonzalez said, “(I want to) create a prosperous, democratic and peaceful country, where citizens respect each other, where we don’t need anyone to yell at us, to insult us – a country that is inclusive of everyone and everyone. Sound with supporters of Venezuela’s wave chief and his predecessor Hugo Chávez.
Requested for his message to Chavistas, angry at the commercial turmoil of Maduro’s 11-year rule, though fearful of Machado’s radical anti-leftist rhetoric, he responded: “I am the candidate and my line will always be “We will be a government for all. Here, no one will be excluded. Here, we will not see our opponent as an enemy but only as a political rival.”
On the other hand, González made it clear that sports would play an important role in any life management of Machado – who has vowed to free Venezuela from socialism. “He is an essential leader in this process… whatever role he plays in the government,” he said.
For all the opposition enthusiasm, much may still happen in the days before the vote, seen by many as Venezuela’s last chance to preserve its autonomy and save its economy from one of the most brutal peacetime depressions in decades.
Some worry that Maduro – who claims he is confident of victory and blames US sanctions for his country’s economic condition – could nevertheless overrule González’s candidacy or justify postponing the vote. To prove can create a security extreme.
“(Venezuela) is basically a dictatorship… (Maduro) controls the courts, he controls the electoral officials, he controls the police, the secret police and the army. So, practically speaking, he can do whatever he wants,” said Benjamin Gedan, former director for South America at the National Security Council on White Space, who runs the Wilson Center’s Latin USA program. What Maduro will do “depends on how afraid he is, and it depends on how successful international diplomacy is in trying to stop him”.
Even if elections are held and the opposition wins, many witnesses doubt that Maduro will accept the results and give up power for fear of being jailed or condemning his movement to political mercy. Several government officials, including the president, will face drug trafficking charges in the United States as the World Criminal Court (ICC) investigates alleged human rights violations committed by Maduro’s security forces.
Mavens says if Venezuela’s strongman leader loses the election he will need concrete promises and a smooth transition before his successor is sworn in in January 2025. “Guarantee is a technical term for getting out of jail,” Gedan said. Arguing that Chavismo would require additional commitments to be allowed to continue as an active political movement and hold elections six years from now.
González has avoided commenting on thorny issues such as whether Maduro might be declared immunity from prosecution as part of a grant trade. However, the presidential contenders were expecting that there would be a gap of about six months between July and July. The elections and the beginning of January will bring “new spaces and political scenarios, the realities of which we cannot yet see but which may give rise to new realities and new circumstances for everyone”.
Addressing supporters during this time, Machado said: “For my own well-being… I hope that Nicolás Maduro will accept a dialogue process that allows an orderly and sustainable transition”.
Gedan said it was wishful thinking to think the election would generate “democratization overnight.” However what could once be imagined – and in all probability the best case scenario – was what was once “a very complex, uncertain, but still promising political transition”.
“Even if it takes years. Even if the Chavista elite remain impunity. Even if corrupt actors and human rights abusers are not brought to justice. Even if some branches of government fall into the hands of bad actors. “This is a great scenario considering the situation Venezuela is living in.”
