By Julie Turkewitz and Genevieve Glatsky
He is largely seen as the victor of Venezuela’s presidential election, achieving a significant win. However, instead of preparing for his inauguration at the illustrious palace in Caracas on Monday, Edmundo González found himself at the White House, engaged in discussions with President Joe Biden.
This meeting, the first between the two, reflects Biden’s intent to showcase a wide-ranging coalition supporting González, who had an earlier encounter with Argentina’s right-wing president, Javier Milei, over the weekend, and is scheduled to meet with additional regional leaders in the days ahead.
This initiative is part of an attempt by Biden, as his term draws to a close, to further isolate Nicolás Maduro, the long-standing authoritarian leader of Venezuela, who asserts he triumphed in the country’s July election.
“Our conversation with President Biden and his team was extensive, productive, and amicable,” González remarked at a press briefing outside the White House, yet he refrained from disclosing specifics regarding their discussion.
A statement from the Biden administration noted that the two addressed “joint endeavors to restore democracy in Venezuela.”
In response, the Maduro administration termed the meeting “a blatant infringement of international law and a crude effort to maintain imperialist meddling in Latin America.”
It further characterized the Biden administration as “decayed” and “entangled in political disgrace.”
González also had a discussion with Rep. Michael Waltz, R-Fla., President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for national security adviser.
Pedro Mario Burelli, a seasoned Venezuelan political strategist and adversary of Maduro’s regime, described the visit as part of an attempt to “freak him out” — to instill fear in Maduro that the global political winds are shifting against him.
However, this meeting is unlikely to alter the situation within Venezuela: González, aged 75, had to flee shortly after millions voted for him, and he is now living in exile in Spain. Recently, he reiterated his promise to return to his homeland for a swearing-in ceremony on Friday.
“I will be there by any means necessary,” González assured reporters during his stay in Argentina, where he joined Milei on the balcony of the presidential palace, united in a show of solidarity. Milei expressed his complete support for González.
Yet many Venezuelans remain doubtful that González will return soon — the government has issued a $100,000 bounty for his capture, and he risks arrest should he come back.
González’s primary political ally, María Corina Machado, a conservative ex-lawmaker who endorsed him after being barred from the presidential race in July, has been in hiding within Venezuela for several months. In a recent video, she continued to urge the military to defect. However, that has yet to occur.
Instead, Maduro is expected to be sworn in for another six-year term on Friday, and the pivotal question confronting the nation is how a second Trump administration, set to commence on January 20, will deal with Maduro.
Trump’s selections for key foreign policy roles — including Waltz, Mauricio Claver-Carone, and Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., who’s his pick for secretary of state — are known for their tough stance against Maduro. They advocate for stringent economic sanctions designed to economically pressure the Venezuelan leader rather than negotiating.
Nonetheless, some wonder if Trump, known for his negotiation skills, might choose to engage in dialogue with Maduro. The president-elect is keen on reducing migration and on diminishing Venezuela’s key ally, China’s, influence in the region.
In a tactic to enhance his leverage with Trump, Maduro has spent recent months detaining foreigners in Venezuela, including numerous U.S. citizens who are now under his government’s control.
Such dialogue could include a potential arrangement whereby Maduro agrees to accept returned migrants — and release U.S. nationals — in exchange for the U.S. alleviating sanctions that have severely impacted his economic authority.
Some U.S. oil executives, eager to engage in business with Venezuela, have been advocating this approach.
Contrarily, Machado, in a recent discussion with The New York Times, argued that Trump should follow the sanctions route, revoking licenses from the Biden period that have permitted some oil firms to operate in Venezuela. González has been less vocal regarding the strategy he prefers for the Trump administration to undertake.
Luz Mely Reyes, a prominent journalist from Venezuela, noted that while Biden’s meeting with González was a significant event, “Biden’s departure is imminent, and we must observe how the Donald Trump government will react.”
So far, only a single Republican official, Sen. Rick Scott of Florida, has revealed plans to meet with González during his time in the U.S.
Representatives from Trump’s transition team did not reply to a request for comments.
Laura Dib, a Venezuelan analyst at the Washington Office on Latin America, a group advocating for human rights, expressed that González requires a stronger display of support from Republicans.
“I am hopeful that Rubio will have a meeting with him,” she mentioned.
González was also scheduled to address the Organization of American States in Washington on Monday.
Machado has called for Venezuelans to take to the streets on Thursday to express their backing for González.
And despite the government’s threats to detain her, she has vowed to be visible in public that day. “The time has come to take action,” she declared on the social media platform X. “We will meet in the streets.”
