Trump’s failure to receive Venezuela’s opposition leader was a major blunder: Opinion

President Biden’s 30-minute meeting in the White House Monday with Venezuela’s opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia sent a powerful message to Venezuelans at home and the international community just days before a critical juncture in the South American country’s struggle for democracy.

The big mystery is, why hasn’t President-elect Trump received the visiting Venezuelan political leader? Trump could have received Gonzalez Urrutia at his Mar-a-Lago mansion in Palm Beach, or at the very least held a Zoom meeting with him. Gonzalez Urrutia was more than eager to travel to Florida to meet with the incoming U.S. president, opposition sources tell me. A picture of him with Trump, who has long criticized the Biden administration for being too soft on Venezuela’s dictatorship, would have been key to energizing Venezuelans ahead of a potentially historic January 9 opposition rally.

Venezuela’s popular Gonzalez Urrutia-backer, Maria Corina Machado, has called for the demonstration to prevent dictator Nicolas Maduro from fraudulently being sworn in for a third, six-year term in office on January 10. According to opposition voting tallies considered as authentic by the United States and several other countries, Gonzalez Urrutia won Venezuela’s July elections with 67% of the vote, and deserves to be sworn in. The United States, Argentina and other countries have recognized Gonzalez Urrutia as Venezuela’s president elect.