The United Democratic Platform (PUD), the main opposition alliance in Venezuela, unanimously ratified diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia as its candidate for the presidential elections on July 28, replacing María Corina Machado. , who was disqualified by the Chavista regime from holding elected office.
Urrutia had been nominated by the PUD as a provisional candidate, after denouncing the impossibility of registering historian Corina Yoris, the first chosen as Machado's replacement. The coalition explained at the time that it took that decision to remain “within the electoral path” and “continue fighting” to guarantee the registration of the “candidacy chosen by democratic factors”.
The coalition's secretary general, Omar Barboza, confirmed the decision to the local press this Friday. “I want to give very good news to the Venezuelan people and democrats around the world. The Democratic Unitary Platform has just unanimously approved the candidacy of Ambassador Edmundo González Urrutia as the unit's candidate, supported by all members,” he said.
According to the PUD representative, Urrutia had his registration admitted by the National Electoral Council (CNE), without any objections.
The 74-year-old diplomat served as Venezuela's ambassador to Algeria between 1991 and 1993 and, later, to Argentina, between 1998 and 2002.
During this period in the 1990s, he consolidated his diplomatic career, occupying several positions in the General Directorate of International Policy of the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MRE) (1994-1998), including heading the department's Strategic Analysis and Planning commission.
Between 2013 and 2015, Urrutia was responsible for strengthening the presence of the opposition coalition Mesa Redonda da Unidadrática (MUD) on the global stage. In 2020, he assumed the presidency of MUD.
With the confirmation of the candidate, there are 12 registered for the elections. In addition to the diplomat and the dictator Maduro, Luis Brito, Luis Ratti, Enrique Márquez, Benjamín Rausseo, Luis Eduardo Martínez, Daniel Ceballos, Antonio Ecarri, Juan Carlos Alvarado, Javier Bertucci and Claudio Fermín are competing for head of government.
Presidential candidate Manuel Rosales, governor of Zulia and leader of the Um Novo Tempo (UNT) party, a party that is theoretically part of the opposition coalition, but whose candidacy was questioned, announced his withdrawal from the race to support the candidate chosen by the largest opposition alliance .
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