Edmundo González travels to Argentina to meet with President Javier Milei

The Venezuelan opponent Edmundo González Urrutia, who claims victory over Nicolás Maduro in the July 28 elections, He travels to Argentina from his exile in Madrid at a time when Venezuelan authorities offer a reward of $100,000 for information leading to his capture.

(Read also: Maduro regime offers $100,000 reward for Edmundo González
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The opposition leader, who went into exile in Spain in September and has promised to return to his country to “take office” on January 10 in place of Maduro, will arrive in Buenos Aires in the next few hours, a Presidency source confirmed to AFP.

On the other hand, Afencia EFE points out that Gonzalez Urrutia will be received next Saturday, January 4, by the Argentine president Javier Milei, in Buenos Aires.

The meeting, which will take place when there are just a few days left before the start of a new period of Government in Venezuela, It will be in the Casa Rosada, headquarters of the Argentine Executive, added the sources consulted by EFE, who did not provide more details of the meeting.

For its part, the González Urrutia Communication and Press Office indicated in a statement that The meeting of the opposition leader with Milei will mark the beginning of an international tour of the Venezuelan leader.

“This Saturday, January 4, President González Urrutia will be received by the President of the Argentine Republic, Javier Milei. The meeting will take place at the Casa Rosada,” says the statement, which invites “the entire Venezuelan community residing in Argentina” to meet at the doors of the Argentine Executive headquarters to “accompany” González Urrutia.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) awarded victory in the July elections to Maduro, a result questioned by the main anti-Chavista coalition, Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), and much of the international community.

González Urrutia has reiterated that He will return to Venezuela to assume the Presidency of his country on January 10.

Meanwhile, Maduro, who has publicly received the support of State institutions, including the Bolivarian National Armed Forces (FANB), has also insisted that he will be sworn in as re-elected president on January 10.

Nicolás Maduro’s regime offered a reward of $100,000 for Edmundo González

The news of González Urrutia’s trip to Argentina was known on the same day that the Venezuelan authorities offered a $100,000 reward for information that leads to his capture.

“Wanted. Arrest warrant. Reward: $100,000,” says a poster posted on social media by the scientific police with the photo of González Urrutia.

Judicial sources confirmed to AFP that The poster will be displayed at airports and police checkpoints throughout the country.

On December 20, Spain granted political asylum to González Urrutia, accused by the Venezuelan Prosecutor’s Office of crimes such as “conspiracy” and “criminal association.”

The electoral authorities proclaimed Maduro re-elected for a third consecutive six-year term (2025-2031), without publishing details of the scrutiny so far, while The opposition denounces fraud and claims the victory of González Urrutia.

Argentina is unaware of Maduro’s re-election, as is the United States, the European Union and several Latin American countries.

“Puppet”

Maduro’s proclamation sparked protests that left 28 dead and some 200 injured, in addition to 2,400 detained. Three of those arrested died in prison and nearly 1,400 have been released on parole.

Maduro – for whom the opposition’s allegations of fraud are part of a “coup d’état” plan – prepares to be sworn in facing a new period with the support of the Armed Forces, whose high command has declared “absolute loyalty” to him.

“On January 10, 2025, we will take to the streets in millions to swear for Venezuela,” the president can be heard in a video he published this Thursday, January 2, on Instagram, in images of a speech given in December at the doors of the palace. Presidential of Miraflores, in Caracas.

“The people’s house will never fall into the hands of a puppet,” indicates a message that accompanies the piece, in reference to González Urrutia.

On his side, together with González Urrutia, Opposition leader María Corina Machado called on Tuesday for protests with a view to the inauguration.

“The time is very close to see us again on the streets of Venezuela to claim victory,” said Machado, who declares himself in clandestinity in the face of threats of jail, without giving further details.

The opposition published on a website copies of electoral records with which it claims González Urrutia’s victory, while the government denies the validity of those documents.

Argentine Foreign Ministry denounced Venezuela before the International Criminal Court

Also this Thursday, the Argentine Foreign Ministry announced that it had denounced Venezuela before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the “arbitrary detention and forced disappearance” of an Argentine gendarme detained and accused of “terrorism” by the Venezuelan prosecutor’s office.

Argentina presented the complaint before the court based in The Hague for the case of Nahuel Gallo, detained “on December 8, 2024 in the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela”, and pointed “at Attorney General Tarek William Saab,” he detailed in a statement.

For the Argentine government, the arrest of the gendarme constitutes “a serious and flagrant violation of human rights.”

The diplomatic relationship between Argentine President Javier Milei and his Venezuelan counterpart Nicolás Maduro was already tense, but it ended when the ultraliberal leader ignored Maduro’s re-election.

After the breakup of relationships, The Argentine embassy in Caracas is guarded by Brazil, where six Machado collaborators took refuge in March, accused of “terrorism.”

One of them renounced asylum on December 20 and left the embassy to place himself at the service of the authorities. The remaining five are waiting for safe passage to leave the country.