Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, the opposition presidential candidate from Venezuela who asserted he had defeated Nicolas Maduro in the election held last month, declared on Monday that he was prepared to discuss a transition and asked the incumbent to “step aside.”
“Mr. Nicolas Maduro, respect what all Venezuelans have decided… You and your government should step aside… I am ready for dialogue,” Gonzalez Urrutia, a retired diplomat, said in a video message posted on social media.
“Every day that you hinder the democratic transition, Venezuelans suffer from a country in crisis, and without freedom. Clinging to power only makes the suffering of our people worse. Our time has come.”
Gonzalez Urrutia and fellow opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was not allowed to run for office herself, have been in hiding since the contentious election as prosecutors launch an investigation against them both.
Machado made an appearance on Saturday at an opposition demonstration in Caracas, but Gonzalez Urrutia has not been seen in public for weeks.
The demonstration on Saturday was the most recent since Maduro declared his candidacy for a third, six-year term in July’s election.
With 52 percent of the vote cast, the country’s CNE electoral council quickly declared Maduro the winner and confirmed the result in early August. It did not offer a thorough analysis.
The opposition says its own tally of polling-station-level results showed Gonzalez Urrutia, 74, had won more than two-thirds of votes.
According to official statistics, there have been 2,400 arrests, 192 injuries, and 25 fatalities from protests related to the election.
Maduro told his followers on Sunday that “they will never be able to defeat us, because we carry with us the force of history, the force of the nation, and the force of God.” Maduro has accused the opposition of inciting a coup. We prevailed.”
