Venezuelan election could lead to seismic shift in politics or give President Maduro six more years
Associated PressJul 25
US Recognizes Venezuela's Opposition Leader as President-Elect
Above: Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia poses for a photograph in a street of Madrid on Nov. 20, 2024. Image copyright: Oscar Del Pozo/Contributor/AFP via Getty Images
The Facts
The US has formally recognized Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González as the country's president-elect, per a statement from Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Tuesday.
Posting on X, Blinken stated "[t]he Venezuelan people spoke resoundingly on July 28 and made [González] the president-elect. Democracy demands respect for the will of the voters."
The Spin
Pro-establishment narrative
While the US and its allies have already criticized the Maduro dictatorship for election fraud, the Biden admin. has dealt a further blow to the autocratic regime by publicly recognizing González as president-elect of Venezuela. Despite speculation that Trump might be open to a softer approach towards Maduro, lessons from his first stint at the White House indicate that Caracas should instead prepare itself for a barrage of sanctions.
Establishment-critical narrative
Despite America's best attempts to claim otherwise, the interventionist Western regime has sought to meddle in Venezuela to try to overturn the legitimate win of Maduro in the presidential election. There must be no doubt that Venezuela will continue to push back against failed Western attempts to attack its sovereignty, especially now that the BRICS bloc of nations is offering a multitude of counter-hegemonic economic and political opportunities.