María Colina Machado, a popular Venezuelan opposition leader who is barred from running for president, on Saturday announced the appointment of a little-known diplomat appointed to replace President Nicolás Maduro in July elections. supported.
Edmundo González Urrutia was unanimously elected on Friday by the opposition coalition known as the PUD after several days of meetings filled with lively debate.
The support from Mr. Machado, who participated in these meetings, was very important. She is Venezuela's most popular opposition figure, receiving 90% of the vote in the primary elections held in October.
“We are united and we are strong,” she said in a video posted on social media. “There is a candidate who everyone has supported.”
Machado will be replaced by González Urrutia, a political analyst and former Venezuelan ambassador to Argentina and Algeria.
Advertisement – SCROLL TO CONTINUE
Machado has been banned from public office for 15 years by courts loyal to the Maduro regime. They are accusing her of corruption, calling her claims false accusations.
Machado continued to fight on the sidelines, eventually intervening at the last minute and attempting to register a proxy to run, but election officials blocked that candidate as well.
Another last-minute candidate, Manuel Rosales, governor of the oil-rich Zulia state, is part of an opposition coalition and withdrew from the race.
Advertisement – SCROLL TO CONTINUE
Many countries, including the United States, have refused to accept the results of President Maduro's 2018 victory, alleging fraud and lack of transparency. That vote was boycotted by the opposition.
The United Nations estimates that around 8 million Venezuelans have fled the country since 2014, a year after Maduro took office.
The past decade has seen a severe economic crisis characterized by runaway inflation and food and medicine shortages, leaving the country in dire straits.
mbj/jt/ag/dw/smw
