The turn in Edmundo González’s life: from diplomat to new target of Nicolás Maduro’s government

The unexpected twists of politics and life placed Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia before a disproportionately complex and far-reaching personal and political challengeAt 74 years of age, he went from being an unknown diplomat outside Venezuela, with a family life and focused on his academic routines, to being placed in the vortex of a serious state crisis, triumphant in politics, but defenseless against the force of arms. Proclaiming, and trying to assert an electoral victory that has unleashed the wrath of the Chavista government.

The Venezuelan government accuses him, along with María Corina Machado, of being behind a plan to ignore the election results announced by the National Electoral Council, which declared Nicolás Maduro the winner, and unleash violence in the streets with the aim of deposing the government. In addition, he was The object of fierce propaganda that portrays him as a dark character in the paramilitary and fascist world of Latin America since the end of the 20th century, allegedly linked to extremist procedures in Central America during his time as a diplomat.

The charges against González Urrutia have not yet been formalized in court, but they are about to be. The The prosecution summoned him to testify today for the alleged commission of crimes of “usurpation of functions, forging (falsification) of public document, incitement to disobedience of laws, computer crime, criminal association and conspiracy”.

Attorney General Tarek William Saab said: “Let him speak, in a consequential and successive manner, of his responsibility before, during and after July 28, for his contumacy and his disobedience to the authorities.”

The president of the Supreme Court of Justice, Caryslia Rodríguez, announced that she had sent to the Prosecutor’s Office “information of criminal interest” regarding González Urrutia and María Corina Machado. She added that the former had incurred “contempt” before the highest court in the country.

The minutes digitalized and posted on a website by the opposition campaign command, which would be equivalent to more than 80% of the votes counted, confirm a victory for González Urrutia with 67% of the votes, compared to 30% for Maduro. The process of collecting and publishing the documents on a website that could not be removed from the network has been a communicational coup that strengthened the idea of ​​the opposition’s victory in the country and outside Venezuela. All this has aggravated the anger among the authorities, who are now filing charges for usurpation of functions and falsification of public documents. The Chavista civil-military apparatus, a thousand-headed monster, has lost much of its hold on the population, but it seems to have kept its kilograms of power in the structures of the State intact.

Venezuelan opposition and regime supporters competed in the streets of Caracas in demonstrations amid the political crisis caused by a disputed election in which President Nicolás Maduro and his rival Edmundo González Urrutia declared themselves winners. Photo JUAN BARRETO /AFP

Gonzalez Urrutia He was the only candidate who did not appear at the “expertise” of the minutes organized by the Supreme Court at the request of the Miraflores Palace, and demanded -in addition to your personal safety- that the National Electoral Council would be the body in charge of auditing the process and comparing the voting records.

Between threats of imprisonment and harsh epithets, Maduro also called him a “coward” and repeatedly criticised him in rallies and on television. The Venezuelan president constantly asks why he “doesn’t show his face”. July 30 was the last time González Urrutia was seen in public, and he lives under security protection and has only published messages through his social networks. However, according to sources close to him, the diplomat has dealt with the barrage of insults and threats “with great aplomb and serenity”. The information about his whereabouts, his contacts, his strategy, is a total mystery.

No sentence will stop the truth, nor is it above popular sovereignty. pic.twitter.com/65IUUXI5Mk

— Edmundo González (@EdmundoGU) August 23, 2024

A testimony from someone very close to González Urrutia describes the situation: “He is surrounded by his family. He has his team and contacts at a distance, he does not meet with anyone in person. He is with a very close circle of collaborators in politics and, of course, he is in constant contact with María Corina Machado. He makes his enquiries, he exchanges a lot with some politicians he trusts, his friends of years. We have talked a couple of times, but only when he decides to communicate. I feel it strongly. It’s quiet.”.

Hermetically protected since the last time he attended an opposition march, On July 30, González Urrutia issued statements condemning the bias of national public powers in favor of Chavismo, and calling for “impartial and verifiable” audits of the electoral process to prove his victory.

“Of course he will not appear at those summons”, adds another close source. “To present oneself would be to recognize the legality of these institutions, all controlled by Maduro’s party.in which there is no notion of justice.”

“In the face of this attack on our freedoms and our popular sovereignty, I call on Venezuelans to unite in their defense,” González Urrutia said in his most recent proclamation. “What is at stake is no small thing. I call on all organizations, even those that have not supported us in the elections, to unite and enforce the decision of the majority.”

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado with Democratic Unitary Platform presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia in Caracas on July 29, 2024, one day after the Venezuelan presidential election. Photo JUAN BARRETO/AFP

“I think they want to put pressure on him, surround him to force him to leave the country“, says a third person close to the candidate. “But it must be said that he is very active, talking a lot with the international community, looking for commitments and parameters to move forward.”

The population seems willing to go to the Peaceful calls to defend the election result that Machado and González Urrutia have done, but the paralysis of fearArbitrary arrests and selective police harassment have had an effect, with many people thinking twice before attending a protest.

Although he recognizes that the government’s police siege seeks to place González Urrutia in the same situation as Juan Guaidó, for the historian and political analyst Pedro Benítez “the “circumstances” have some differences. “This time the The opposition claims to have won an election and says it has the evidence to prove it. It is not a conflict between Parliament and the Executive with a constitutional interpretation. Edmundo would have a problem if his victory had been recognized. Now the problem is Maduro, who does not want to accept it.”