Exiled since September, Maduro’s opponent is currently in the Dominican Republic
Venezuelan opponent Edmundo González Urrutia, who claims victory in the July presidential elections, said this Thursday, from the Dominican Republic, that “very soon” he will see Venezuelans in Caracas, “in freedom”.
“See you all very soon in Caracas, in freedom”, he declared, on the eve of the inauguration of the outgoing President, Nicolás Maduro, for a third term, and while the opposition is demonstrating today throughout Venezuela.
González Urrutia, 75 years old former ambassador, was received today by the Dominican president, Luis Abinader, at the presidential palace, where he arrived accompanied by several former heads of state from the IDEA group (Democratic Initiative of Spain and the Americas), including the the Colombian Andrés Pastrana and the Mexicans Vicente Fox and Felipe Calderón.
“The Maduro regime refuses to accept the defeat it suffered” at the polls and “chose, instead, to unleash the worst escalation of repression in the history of our country (…) We, Venezuelans, are determined to persist in this fight until the end”, added González Urrutia.
“On July 28, Venezuela expressed itself clearly: its vote was a cry for freedom that was met with repression and fraud”, stated, in turn, Abinader, before addressing the Venezuelan authorities: “There is still time to move to the right side of history, to open the doors to a peaceful transition to democracy.”
since September, González Urrutia, concluding a diplomatic tour that included Argentina, Uruguay, Panama and, above all, Washington and the White House, had planned to return to Venezuela accompanied by these former Latin American presidents to take the oath instead of Maduro – a project that appears to have been abandoned, despite Santo Domingo being just an hour by plane from Caracas.
Venezuelan authorities warned the opposition presidential candidate and his entourage that they would be considered an “invading force” and detained upon arrival in the country.
The President, Nicolás Maduro, was proclaimed winner of the July 28 presidential elections, with 52% of the votes, by the National Electoral Council (CNE), considered under the control of power.
The CNE did not publish the electoral records of the polling stations, claiming to have been the victim of a computer attack, an argument considered not very credible by many observers.
The opposition, which released the electoral records provided by its scrutineers, guarantees that its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, obtained more than 67% of the votes.
