Peruvian government recognizes González Urrutia as Venezuelan election winner — MercoPress

Peruvian government recognizes González Urrutia as Venezuelan election winner

González Olachea stresses that Maduro wants to stay in power forever through dictatorship

Although the National Electoral Council (CNE) announced in Caracas on Sunday that Nicolás Maduro was elected for the 2025-2031 term with 51.2% of the vote, compared to the challenger’s 44.2%, the Peruvian government led by President Dina Boluarte on Tuesday recognized opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia as the legitimate elected president of Venezuela. “Edmundo González is clearly the democratically elected president of Venezuela; many countries, governments and international organizations share this position,” said Foreign Minister Javier González Olachea.

Peru is one of the few countries that has not recognized Maduro’s victory, and vote tallies from every polling station have not been released despite highly credible allegations of fraud. But it was the first country to formally announce the results in line with what González Urrutia and disenfranchised leader María Corina Machado’s United Democratic Platform (PUD) had claimed.

Peru’s foreign minister echoed the PUD camp’s claim that González Urrutia won by “more than 30 percentage points” and insisted that the Venezuelan government’s position was based on “absolutely false arguments.”

González Olachea had previously announced joint action to support the opposition movement. “Several countries in the region are coordinating joint actions in order to respect without a doubt the will expressed yesterday by the Venezuelan people. No matter how long it takes, there is no turning back. Our ambassador to Venezuela, who was recalled for consultations, will leave Caracas today.” He also called Maduro “a man who wants to perpetuate his power through dictatorship.”

When the announcement was heard in Venezuela’s capital, Maduro referred to González Urrutia as “Guaidó 2.0,” a reference to former National Assembly president Juan Guaidó, who was installed as interim president in exile but whose shadow government ultimately withered as international support faded.