Main opposition candidate in Venezuela gives 1st speech

Diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia, 74 years old, gave his 1st speech this Wednesday (April 24, 2024) after being confirmed, on April 19, as the PUD (Democratic Unitary Platform) candidate who will face President Nicolás Maduro in the Venezuelan elections. The election is scheduled for July 28th.

In a video published on YouTube, Urrutia stated that his appointment is a responsibility that he accepts with humility. “It was a decision that I hadn’t expected a few days ago, which is why it took me this long to send you this message”he said, directing his statement to Venezuelans.

The main opposition candidate also stated that the time has come to “march for recovery” of Venezuelan democracy, put aside differences and “work to achieve electoral triumph” in this year’s election.

“We are facing the challenge of betting on Venezuela’s recovery. No one can remain indifferent to the situation of millions of our compatriots, a poverty that is expanding while inflation persists and the currency loses real value.”he declared.

Urrutia further stated that the PUD is committed to a “Venezuela for everyone”where there will be justice, autonomy and independence of public powers and no one will have “fear of being persecuted for your ideas”.

“We are committed to carrying out a transition that guarantees the freedom of political prisoners, the return of exiles and all Venezuelans who left and wish to return, the adaptation of public authorities to prevail their independence and the positioning of our country to return to being an international democratic reference”he said.

The Venezuelan presidential candidate is a diplomat born in La Victoria, in the State of Araqua. He graduated from the Central University of Venezuela and has a master’s degree in International Relations from the American University in Washington DC (United States).

Urrutia was Venezuela’s ambassador to Algeria from 1991 to 1993. He also held the same role in Argentina from 1998 to 2002.

Regarding his experience, the candidate stated that the profession he has practiced for many years gives him “the tools to understand how Venezuela should behave in a turbulent world, plagued by conflict”.

REGISTRATION IN THE APPLICATION

The Democratic Unitary Platform faced difficulties in ratifying a name in the dispute. First, the leader of the coalition, María Corina Machado, was prevented by Venezuelan courts from holding public office for the next 15 years, which, in practice, made her candidacy for President impossible.

For Venezuela’s Supreme Court of Justice – which is aligned with Chavismo, Maduro’s political movement –, she would have participated in a “corruption plot”.

Afterwards, Machado’s replacement, Corina Yoris, was unable to register to run for election at the CNE (National Electoral Council) of Venezuela. She said she tried to enter the registration data, but the system was “completely blocked”.

Urrutia was registered as a provisional candidate on March 26 of the main anti-Maduro coalition after the CNE extended the registration deadline.

NICOLAS MADURO

The president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro Moros, 61 years old, heads an autocratic regime with no guarantees of fundamental freedoms. He keeps, for example, people imprisoned for what he considers “political crimes”.

There are also restrictions described in reports from the OAS (on the “illegitimate appointment” of the National Electoral Council by an illegitimate National Assembly) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (from October 2022, November 2022 and March 2023).