Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, a soft-spoken grandfather who shuns the spotlight, became a last-minute opposition candidate in Venezuela’s July 28 presidential election and became a target of Venezuela’s hardline government.
An arrest warrant was issued for the 75-year-old on Sunday for his claim to be the legitimate winner against dictator Nicolas Maduro, who is seeking a third six-year term, forcing him into exile in Spain at “risk for his life”.
Gonzalez Urrutia, a retired diplomat, reluctantly accepted the new role. He had few other options.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who emerged in opinion polls as Venezuela’s overwhelmingly popular politician, was disqualified from the presidential race by bodies loyal to Maduro.
Alternative candidates were also ruled out or withdrew, and in April González Urrutia was registered at the last minute as a replacement candidate for the opposition coalition Platform for Democratic Unity.
With Machado’s hopes of returning to the national team dashed, he was converted from substitute to captain of the opposing team.
“I never imagined I’d be in this position, but that is secondary to the challenges ahead,” the political analyst and former Argentine ambassador to Algeria told AFP shortly after his nomination.
“This is my contribution to the cause of democracy… This is my contribution to unity and to the struggle for a democratic transition.”
The low-key Gonzalez Urrutia lacks the luster of the 56-year-old Machado, who was greeted like a rock star wherever he campaigned.
He walks slowly, is understated, and his hands shake slightly.
Public speaking is not his forte, and the septuagenarian tends to speak in a monotone voice and from a prepared script.
He wants cameras and microphones trained on the charismatic Machado, who has been banned from flying and has since driven around the country campaigning on her behalf.
Both men disappeared after the election, after President Maduro insisted they should be jailed.
While González Urrutia has kept a low profile, Machado has made several public appearances to lead anti-Maduro protests.
Both candidates took to social media to highlight the victory of Gonzalez Urrutia, who won 67 percent of the vote, according to an opposition tally.
Machado on Thursday called on the world, which has largely rejected Maduro’s victory claim, to recognize Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuela’s next president.
Then on Sunday he fled to Spain, where he was granted asylum because his “life was in danger,” she said.
Gonzalez Urrutia will continue fighting overseas, Machado said.
Described by those who know him as “polite,” “intelligent” and “democrat,” González Urrutia has been credited with building the opposition coalition into the force it is today, quietly and behind the scenes, over the past 16 years.
Ramon Guillermo Abeledo, a former secretary of the coalition group, described the reluctant leader as a “servant of the Republic.”
Gonzalez Urrutia has denied having any personal ambitions and has consistently referred to Machado as the “leader of the opposition.”
Before the election, he said one of life’s pleasures was having balcony conversations with two of his four grandchildren who live in the apartment next door in Caracas.
He also loved feeding the exotic birds that visited there.
And overnight, he was caught up in the chaos of an electoral campaign that has seen opponents of Maduro’s government ousted, arrested and even jailed.
The president said in April that it was a small sacrifice for the greater cause, saying “we must all fight for the recovery and transition of Venezuela.”
Gonzalez Urrutia was born and raised in La Victoria, a small city about 110 kilometers from Caracas, and studied international relations at the Central University of Venezuela in the capital.
He joined the Foreign Service and was posted to Belgium and Washington before becoming ambassador.
He has written several books about Venezuela and is an avid reader of political literature: His home bookshelves are lined with books like “The Clash of Civilizations” by Samuel P. Huntington and “On China” by Henry Kissinger.
During the election campaign, González Urrutia maintained a moderate political rhetoric and called for reconciliation.
As president, he told AFP he would work to “unite the Venezuelan people and restore the economy and democracy” following the return of political exiles.
But he was well aware that the path to getting there could be difficult under an administration that sees challengers as “enemies, not enemies.”
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