The Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia maintains, in an interview with Efe, that he is “morally prepared” for his eventual arrest if he returns to Caracas to assume the Presidency and bets on a peaceful transition in which Chavismo can find a space and Nicolás Maduro himself can continue in the country.
Less than 50 days before the scheduled date for the inauguration of the next president of Venezuela, January 10, González Urrutia confirms his intention to travel to Caracas to take office with the endorsement of 7.3 million votes which, he assures, he achieved in the elections of July 28, compared to the little more than 3 million that he attributes to Maduro.
In the first interview he gives to a Spanish media, González Urrutia, who arrived in Madrid in September to request political asylum after denouncing electoral fraud in his country, it is considered “the candidate who won” and that “he should take possession of the Presidency.” “That’s what we are prepared and working for,” he says.
After the elections, the largest opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), has denounced how “fraudulent” Maduro’s victory and defended that González Urrutia is the elected president based on 83.5% of the minutes that they claim to have gathered through witnesses, documents that the Venezuelan Government calls false.
The plan is to return
The former diplomat is confident that if he returns to Caracas to assume the Presidency he will not be arrested, but he assures that he is “morally prepared” in case it occurs. “What I don’t have is a ticket yet.but my plan is to be there. The plans are to return to Caracas on January 10 and take office that day,” he says.
It will not be, he admits, an easy situation: “Well, there will be a struggle, a tension“. “What is advisable for the country” would be the departure of Nicolás Maduro, “for the health of all Venezuelans,” he points out. In his opinion, the “harassment actions” of the Government against María Corina Machado and himself – such as those arrest warrants- They are signs of “weakness” of Maduro.
He trusts in massive mobilization, both in Venezuela and in different capitals around the world, in response to the call launched by Machado for next December 1, although he recognizes that in the country there is a climate “potential” of violence and provocation by the ruling party.
Peaceful transition and space for Chavismo
In his eventual administration as president, González Urrutia advocates for “negotiations for an orderly transition,” with the release of political prisonerswhich numbers more than 2,000. “There will be prior negotiations that will allow, God willing, an orderly transition. There could be coexistence within Venezuelan soil,” he maintains. “There will be a transition where the popular bases can have a space and that Chavismo can find a space. Chavismo is a political force that will remain in the country“he continues.
“Theoretically we are the majority, of course, but what we want is to turn the page and open a space for the recovery of Venezuela, recovery in the broadest sense: politically, economically and socially speaking,” he says. Your priority: “The reunion of Venezuelans and that is going to be my fundamental task, the reconciliation of the country, the reconciliation of Venezuelans.”
The future of Nicolás Maduro?
“The Venezuelan Constitution only allows one president. I am the one who will take office on January 10,” insists González Urrutia, when asked about Maduro’s future. “He finished his mandate” and “will take his course,” he adds. Could I be another citizen in Venezuela? “I could be just another citizen, of course”ditch. In the interview he also speaks about the role of the Army, an important actor in a transition in Venezuela.
“You could say that maybe the dome may be maintaining stability of the regime, but the base and midpoints of the Armed Forces are the reflection of Venezuelan society,” with the problems that shake the entire population, such as inflation or deficiencies in healthcare, he explains. “Those same situations “They are going through it,” he adds. “It is a matter of the military commands of the generals appointed by Maduro, but that It is a very small dome“, with whom, he assures, he has had no contacts.
International action
Just 10 days after the inauguration of the next Venezuelan president Donald Trump will return for the presidency of the United States, a country that recently recognized González Urrutia as the elected president of Venezuela. The opposition leader has not spoken personally with Trump although, he explains, both of their teams have maintained contacts in Washington. Avoid anticipating what impact it may have Trump’s new stage in the White House on Venezuela, although he hopes that it can contribute “to a peaceful, moderate transition, which has the future of Venezuelans as its objective.”
González Urrutia appreciates the efforts of his Latin American neighbors to promote the transition in his country and trusts that “I hope they are firmer and I hope they can carry out the provisions of these governments.” Also in the European Union, which recently awarded him the Sakharov Prize along with María Corina Machado, he says he has found support.
In Spain, like at home
In Spain he feels “at home” and avoids entering into issues of national politics, but highlights that in his conversations with the president of the Spanish Government, Pedro Sánchez, he has found “positive and supportive displays of affection”. “At no time do I have anything to complain about what has been done so far,” he says.
González Urrutia says he does not fear for his personal safety, nor for that of his family in Caracas: “When I negotiated my departure to Spain there was an agreement with some guarantees.” “One of them is not to intervene with my family.not to mess with my family there,” he concludes.
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