Meet the man who is challenging Nicolás Maduro as leader of Venezuela

On July 28, Venezuelans went to the polls. Despite the opposition having every against them, many in the international community claim Edmundo González won the elections fair and square.

However, Nicolás Maduro, seeking a third six-year term as President of Venezuela, wouldn't go down so easily. Hugo Chávez's successor is been accused by the international community, including the United Nations, of having stolen the elections.

Elections are not an easy thing in Venezuela. Many people regard it as unfair and biased towards Chavismo, so an opposition candidate gaining momentum and having people rally behind him is nothing short of surprising.

María Corina Machado seemed the natural candidate for the Venezuelan presidential elections of 2024. The Spanish newspaper El Mundo points out how she swept the opposition primaries in October 2023, despite being barred for running for a public office.

Machado, for better or worse, has distanced herself from more moderate opposition leaders in Venezuela such as Henrique Capriles or Leopoldo López, which has helped to cultivate an image as a staunch and uncompromising enemy of Maduro.

Unsurprisingly, the National Electoral Council of Venezuela did not allow a disqualified politician to register for the presidential elections, scheduled for July 28, 2024, Hugo Chávez's birthday.

However, after a dispute between different factions of the Venezuelan opposition and the National Electoral Council, an unknown candidate was finally allowed to run: Edmundo González Urrutia.

It's no secret that Edmundo González is María Corina Machado's deputy in these elections. She has been seen alongside the candidate in numerous rallies and political events, where she seems to be the real focus.

This raises many questions about the man who the Spanish newspaper El País describes as a moderate who could bring a political transition to Venezuela after two decades of Chavismo in power.

Edmundo González Urrutia was born in La Victoria, state of Aragua, on August 29, 1949. He studied International Studies at the Central University of Venezuela, later doing a master's degree in International Relations from the American University.

Image: jsshotz/Unsplash

The German news agency DW highlights that González has had a long career as a diplomat, being Venezuela's ambassador to Algeria between 1991 and 1993.

Image: daoud_abismail / Unsplash

González was also the diplomatic representative of Venezuela in Argentina between 1998 and 2002, during the first years of the Government of Hugo Chávez.

Apart from his career as a diplomat, the presidential candidate has also been a writer, international analyst, and part of the editorial board of the Venezuelan newspaper El Nacional.

The newspaper El País has described González's work as discreet, preferring being behind the scenes rather than the spotlight. He himself tells the Spanish newspaper his own surprise at being a presidential candidate.

“I didn't have time to react. I felt a great sense of responsibility in the face of what was coming at me,” González confesses to El País.

The Venezuelan opposition candidate was honest with the newspaper El País about the skepticism about facing Maduro in the polls and the possibility of a change in his country: “I don't see it with pessimism. I want to be realistic, it is an immense challenge.”

Will Edmundo González Urrutia go down in history as the man who brought a political transition to his country? Or will join the list of leaders who promised more than they could give to Venezuela? Only time will tell.

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