Exiled Venezuelan opposition leader to speak with Biden, visit US / Photo: © AFP
Exiled Venezuelan opposition leader to speak with Biden, visit US
Venezuelan opposition politician Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who fled the country after a tumultuous election and subsequent police crackdown, said Saturday he has plans to speak with US President Joe Biden.
Speaking in Argentina, where he met with President Javier Milei, Gonzalez Urrutia added that he was traveling to the United States on Sunday, though it was unclear when the conversation with Biden would take place.
"We are planning a conversation with President Biden and we are waiting for definitions regarding the new authorities," Gonzalez Urrutia said in the Argentine capital Buenos Aires, referring to incoming president Donald Trump, set to take over on January 20.
Gonzalez Urrutia's meeting with Milei came at the start of a regional tour aimed at building international support for the man Venezuela's opposition considers the rightful president-elect.
The 75-year-old appeared alongside Milei on a balcony of the Casa Rosada, the Argentine president's official workplace, as hundreds of Venezuelans gathered below on the Plaza de Mayo chanted "Venezuela, you are not alone!"
The appearance came just days before Gonzalez Urrutia's bitter rival, Nicolas Maduro, is set to be sworn in for a third presidential term in Caracas.
The United States, the European Union and dozens of other countries say Venezuelan election officials manipulated the vote results -- which they have yet to publish in detail -- of the July 28 elections.
Some countries instead have recognized Gonzalez Urrutia as the clear winner.
- Living in exile -
Gonzalez Urrutia arrived in Buenos Aires quietly from Madrid, where he has lived in exile since fleeing Venezuela in September. Authorities in Caracas have offered a reward of $100,000 for information leading to his capture.
Street protests erupted after the election and degenerated into clashes with police, with 28 people dead, 200 injured and more than 2,400 arrested.
His schedule calls for him to visit Uruguay late Saturday, Panama on Wednesday and the Dominican Republic the day after.
He has said he will be in Caracas on January 10 to be sworn in as president. It remains unclear how the Maduro government will respond.
Gonzalez Urrutia's visit to Argentina came amid heightened bilateral tensions following the arrest in Venezuela of an Argentine policeman on what Buenos Aires says are trumped up charges of terrorism.
The relationship was already strained following an exchange of insults and, ultimately, Argentina's refusal to recognize Maduro's victory claim.
The Argentine embassy in Caracas has also been sheltering six opposition figures accused of "terrorism" -- a matter Gonzalez Urrutia had said he would take up with Milei.
V.Allen--TNT
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