Venezuelan opposition candidate seeks support on regional tour

Venezuelan opposition leader meets with Argentine president on regional tour ahead of Maduro's third term inauguration.

Venezuelan opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia is expected to meet Argentine President Javier Milei on Saturday (January 4, 2024) on a regional tour to drum up support ahead of President Nicolas Maduro's swearing-in for a third term.

Venezuelan authorities have offered a reward of $100,000 for information leading to the capture of Gonzalez Urrutia, who insists he beat Maduro at the polls in July and is recognized by the United States as Venezuela's "president-elect."

The 75-year-old fled to Spain in September after being threatened with arrest by Maduro's government, but has pledged to return to his country to be sworn in as president on January 10, when Maduro is due to be inaugurated.

Gonzalez Urrutia flew into Buenos Aires on Friday night from Madrid, former Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma, who also lives in exile in Madrid and was in the Argentine capital as part of the delegation, told AFP.

Strict security measures put in place for his arrival meant that a convoy of cars with tinted windows was all that could be seen of his delegation.

Gonzalez Urrutia was due to be received by Milei, a self-described "anarcho-capitalist" who has called Nicolas Maduro a "criminal dictator," at the president's offices on Saturday morning.

The opposition figure has called on Venezuelans in Buenos Aires to rally in the central Plaza de Mayo.