Opposition leader González Urrutia remains ‘firm’ on Venezuela’s side

The presidential candidate of the anti-Chavez majority, Edmundo González Urrutia, said on Thursday that he remains “firmly on the side of the people” of Venezuela, after four days of the elections in which he claims to have triumphed against his nine opponents, including President Nicolás Maduro, declared the winner by the National Electoral Council (CNE).

“I remain firmly on the side of the people. I will never leave them alone, and I will always defend their will! Long live Venezuela. Glory to the Brave People”said the former ambassador in a brief and unique message published this Thursday on the social network X.

The opposition leader, as well as the other nine politicians who participated in last Sunday’s elections, was summoned to appear this Friday, at 2:00 p.m. local time (18:00 GMT), before the Electoral Chamber of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) – chaired by the Chavista Caryslia Rodríguez -, which announced an investigation in order to “certify, in an unrestricted manner, the results” of the elections, in response to an appeal filed by Maduro.

González Urrutia has not commented on the matter, nor has his main supporter, former deputy María Corina Machado, who called on Thursday to participate in demonstrations on Saturday in all cities of the country against the official election result.

The CNE, which claimed to have suffered a cyber attack on its system, has not published the complete results – contrary to regulations – since it declared Maduro the winner, despite the fact that 20% of the voting records were still to be counted, which is equivalent to more than two million votes that could change the outcome.

The majority opposition, grouped in the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), insists that its candidate won the elections, and has created a website with the electoral records that – it claims – prove its claim.

Machado insisted on the need to reiterate that the PUD won and to express in the streets the disagreement with the official bulletin, also questioned by the Carter Center, which warned that the Venezuelan election cannot be considered democratic.