• US backs opposition’s count of votes, indicating González won. Venezuela’s president Maduro will start his new term this week

Bloomberg News

WASHINGTON
EnergiesNet.com 01 06 2025

The Venezuela opposition leader the US has recognized as president-elect is scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden on Monday, days before Donald Trump takes over in the US and faces his own decision about how to handle relations with a country that’s a major source of undocumented immigrants.

Edmundo González won the most votes in last July’s presidential election, the US, European Union and international bodies and election observers have affirmed based on voter data. But Venezuela’s election authority declared authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro the winner without presenting evidence, and he’s slated to begin a third term in the South American nation on Jan. 10. 

Biden administration officials were key to negotiations between the Maduro regime and opposition to make the elections possible, including a related easing of US sanctions.

Biden’s embrace of González as the people’s choice complicates matters for Trump, who would need cooperation from Maduro to deport Venezuelans back home, after many left because of economic hardship under the current regime. González isn’t scheduled to meet with Trump representatives during his trip to the US.

González’s planned conversation with Biden was confirmed by an administration official. The opposition figure also plans to meet with representatives from Latin American governments at the Organization of American States in Washington, according to people with knowledge of the meeting who weren’t authorized to speak on the record.

The incoming Trump administration’s position on whether to support Venezuelan opposition forces is a subject of hot speculation. Nominated Secretary of State Marco Rubio, a Cuban-American Florida senator, has been one of the Maduro government’s fiercest critics. He introduced a bill seeking to increase a reward for Maduro’s arrest to $100 million and has been vocal about his dislike of President Biden’s Venezuela policy. 

But other appointees in the new Trump White House argue that a hard line against Venezuela hasn’t worked and that more engagement is needed.

González, a little-known former ambassador before his presidential run in 2024, was forced to flee to Spain in September after the government issued an arrest warrant against him. He served as a stand-in for María Corina Machado, the opposition’s most popular figure, who was the overwhelming winner of a 2023 primary but who was barred from running in the election. Recently, the Venezuelan regime offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to González’s capture.

Since the vote, other political leaders and activists from Gonzalez’s coalition of parties known as the Unitary Platform have fled the country.

bloomberg.com 01 05 2024