(Bloomberg) – Venezuelan opposition leaders will meet with lawmakers in Washington next week ahead of President Joe Biden’s return to the promised oil-rich South American country after the U.S. claims the election was stolen. , is scheduled to meet with President Joe Biden.
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Edmundo González, who the Biden administration considers the rightful winner of July’s Venezuelan vote, said Saturday from Argentina that his agenda in the U.S. capital was still being finalized. The former diplomat claimed that he was the winner of President Nicolás Maduro’s election before he began his third term on January 10, after the latter declared himself the winner without providing evidence. is trying to gather support for its claim to power.
“We are planning a dialogue with President Biden and are waiting for a clear decision on the new authorities,” González told reporters in Buenos Aires after a meeting with Argentine President Javier Millei. .
González defeated Maduro by a wide margin, according to voting records released by the opposition, but was forced to flee to Spain in September amid a wave of repression. Earlier this week, the administration offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to Gonzalez’s arrest, including his photo on social media and on wanted posters distributed throughout Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.
Gonzalez said he plans to speak to Biden, but a face-to-face meeting could be complicated. Biden, entering his final week in office, is scheduled to visit New Orleans on Monday following the New Year’s Eve attack that killed more than a dozen people in the city. Venezuela’s opposition leader said he would depart for the United States late Saturday after a stop in Uruguay.
The White House National Security Council did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the possibility of a meeting or phone call with Biden.
González will also visit Panama and the Dominican Republic as part of his tour, and reiterated his intention to take office in Venezuela. “I’m going to be there by whatever means necessary,” he said.
The Biden administration’s decision to appoint González as Venezuela’s next president in November is an early test for Donald Trump, who returns to the White House in late January.
The selection of hawkish Republican cabinet members suggests he may take as hard a line as he did against Mr. Maduro during his first term. But President Trump may also be tempted to strike a deal with socialist forces in exchange for accepting planes full of Venezuelan migrants deported from the United States.
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