US Recognizes Venezuelan Opposition Leader as President Amid Controversy, Venezuela Rejects U.S. Decision

The United States has officially recognized exiled opposition leader Edmundo González as Venezuela’s president, five months after Nicolás Maduro was declared the winner of the July 2024 presidential election. U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced the decision in a post on X (formerly Twitter), calling for respect for the “will of the Venezuelan voters.”

President Joe Biden’s administration previously stated that González had secured the most votes in the contentious July 28 election but initially stopped short of recognizing him as president. U.S. officials alleged that Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, dominated by Maduro loyalists, declared Maduro victorious within hours of the polls closing, without providing a detailed vote count.

The opposition coalition countered these claims by collecting tally sheets from 80% of the country’s electronic voting machines and posting them online. According to these records, González, a former diplomat, reportedly won twice as many votes as Maduro.

“We deeply appreciate the acknowledgment of Venezuela’s sovereign will,” said opposition leaders González and María Corina Machado, emphasizing that evidence showed a clear victory for the opposition.

**Venezuela Rejects U.S. Decision**

Venezuela’s Foreign Minister, Yvan Gil, dismissed Washington’s recognition of González as “absurd” and contrary to democratic principles. Speaking in Caracas, he emphasized that the country’s electoral authority had declared Maduro the winner with 51.20% of the vote, equating to over 5.1 million ballots.

Gil criticized Blinken’s announcement as part of an ongoing U.S. strategy to undermine Venezuela, describing it as a continuation of Washington’s “colonialist and imperialist” policies. He likened the move to the failed support of Juan Guaidó as interim president, dubbing it a “Guaidó 2.0” scenario driven by foreign interests.

Referring to Blinken’s imminent departure from office, Gil remarked that the outgoing Secretary of State should “reflect on his failures” and write about how the Bolivarian Revolution resisted U.S. pressure.

**Political Turmoil**

González, who went into exile in Spain in September, faces an arrest warrant in Venezuela for allegedly publishing the voting machine tally sheets, which the Maduro administration considers a violation.

The dispute over the July election has deepened political divisions in Venezuela, with opposition forces claiming electoral fraud and the government maintaining its legitimacy. Washington’s recognition of González adds another layer of complexity to the ongoing crisis, further straining relations between the U.S. and Maduro’s government.