Edmund Gonzalez Urrutia claims that he won the elections on July 28, which is the “president “elect” of Venezuela. Taking power always seemed impossible, first from the secrecy and now in the exile in Spain.
The discreet 75-year-old career diplomat was the accidental candidate of the opposition of Venezuelaafter the disqualification policy the charismatic María Corina Machado. She never aspired to an elected office, and was not a visible face of the anti-Chavez forces.
In an instant, without looking for it, González Urrutia exchanged his anonymity for the spotlight of the campaign and an election that, according to the coalition Platform Unitaryswept the board with almost 70% of the votes.
Nevertheless, Nicholas Ripe He was declared the winner for a third consecutive six-year term (2025-2031) and since then accusations and a lot of pressure have been placed on the opposition candidate.
In the secrecy Since July 30, he has been combative in the networks social, challenging the authority of Ripe. Since September 2, I weighed a order of arrest against him after he ignored three summons to testify before the prosecutor’s office, which he claimed were politically motivated.
He was wanted for “disobedience to the law”, “conspiracy” and “usurpation of functions”, while Ripe and his government attacked him from all sides, regularly calling him “coward“, “Unclean”, “Nazi” and holding him responsible for the violence post-election protests that left 27 dead.
“His life was in danger, and the increasing threats, summons, order “The apprehension and even the attempts at blackmail and coercion to which he has been subjected, demonstrate that the regime has no scruples or limits in its obsession with silencing him and trying to subdue him,” Machado wrote this Sunday in X. “Faced with this brutal reality, it is necessary for our cause to preserve his freedomits integrity and its life“.
“Contribution to the cause democratica“
“I never, never, never thought I would be in this position,” he told the AFP in April Gonzalez Urrutia. “This is my contribution to the cause democratic“.
His nomination for the coalition Platform Unitary In principle it was temporary, what is called “candidate” cover in Venezuelabut he ended up perpetuating himself with his face on the ballot and Machado touring the country campaigning on his behalf.
“What they didn’t know was that that ‘lid’ was going to turn into a bottle,” he recalled with a smile.
Gonzalez Urrutia was born in The Victorya small town about 110 km from Caracas where one of the most heroic battles of the war of independence took place in 1812. There he grew up and studied until he moved to the capital to start university.
He graduated in International Studies from the prestigious University Central of Venezuela (UCV) and then entered the Chancellery.
In his home office there is a poster with a phrase in Latin: “Verba volant, scripta manent.”
“I worked with a ambassador “He told me: ‘everything written remains, and the words fly away’,” he explains about the meaning of that phrase.
“Servant to the Republic”
Author and compiler of books on Venezuela and its international relations, in the library of Gonzalez Urrutia highlights “The anatomy of power” by John Kenneth Galbraith, “The Clash of Civilizations” by Samuel Huntington, and “China“, of Henry Kissinger.
As a diplomat, he lived in Belgium and the United States.
Was ambassador in Algeria (1994-99) and Argentina (1999-2002) and, although he lived for many years outside Venezuelaalways insists that he knows the country well.
In his sudden career policyHe never seemed very comfortable in the spotlight, he read his speeches in a monotone and rarely improvised, preferring to let Machado take center stage.
Although he always showed himself moderate with calls for reconciliation and mentions of possible amnesties for the sake of a transition.
“He is a decent Venezuelan, a democrat and a servant of the Republic,” he described. Ramon Guillermo Aveledo, former secretary of the coalition opposition.
“He is a cultured, honest, family-oriented man, without duplicity and without a hint of populism,” wrote the analyst. Bull Hardyafter describing him as “the antithesis of Chavismo, Madurismo and traditional politics.”
Now, join the ranks of leaders opponents in it exileGone are the afternoons in the balcony from his house with the macawsfrom where he communicated with his grandchildren who lived in a neighboring building.
