Venezuela opposition seeks army backing, leader to meet Biden

Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia called Sunday for the military to recognize him as commander-in-chief, as he continued an international tour seeking to pressure President Nicolas Maduro to relinquish power.

Gonzalez Urrutia has been recognized by the United States, Italy and several Latin American nations as Venezuela's president-elect, despite Maduro being declared the official winner of the July 28 vote.

Having fled the country after being targeted with an arrest warrant, Gonzalez Urrutia has launched an international tour in the days leading up to January 10, when the next president is set to be sworn in.

After stops in Buenos Aires and Montevideo, he has headed next to Washington, where he will meet with President Joe Biden on Monday, a US source familiar with the planning told AFP.

The meeting was not on Biden's public schedule released Sunday, and it was also not clear if a winter storm headed toward Washington could impact the plans.

The 75-year-old former diplomat, who fled in exile to Spain in September, has pledged to return to his country to be sworn in.

In a video posted Sunday on X, Gonzalez Urrutia addressed Venezuela's army, telling them: "On January 10, by the sovereign will of the Venezuelan people, I must assume the role of commander-in-chief."

"Many of you have expressed your desire for change along with the rest of Venezuelans, expressing it by voting against leadership that does not represent a guarantee of stability or a future" for the country, he said.

Venezuelan electoral authorities declared Maduro the winner shortly after the July 28 vote but have yet to release detailed results.

The opposition meanwhile has released a large set of polling-site results that shows Gonzalez Urrutia winning by a wide margin.

Meanwhile on Sunday, popular opposition figurehead Maria Corina Machado called for mass protests on January 9, the day before the inauguration.

"This day will be recorded in history as the day Venezuela said: enough!" she said in a video shared on X.

"Freedom cannot be begged for... it must be conquered, it must be won."

Machado, who was barred from running in the election, has been in hiding since after the vote, but has appeared at several rallies in the capital Caracas.

"I'm going with you. This January 9th, EVERYONE in the streets, in Venezuela and around the world," she wrote on X.

Mass protests broke out in the wake of Maduro being declared the winner, with a wave of crackdowns and clashes leaving at least 28 people dead and over 2,000 arrested.

© Agence France-Presse