Few have heard his name. Here’s why that makes him a dangerous rival to Venezuela’s Maduro

He came out of left field, a candidate who until late last week very few people had heard of, but diplomat Edmundo González is being portrayed today as Venezuela’s greatest chance to recover its democracy, following a sudden decision by the major opposition parties to unite behind his presidential bid.

The decision comes after the Nicolas Maduro regime blocked top contender Maria Corina Machado — who easily won the oppositon’s presidential primary in October — from running, and then banned her replacement as well, in an attempt to mold the presidential race into an easy-win contest. The government allowed 12 little-liked or little-known candidates to run for president, figuring they’d split the opposition vote among them and give Maduro, whose popularity is at all time lows, an easy path to reelection.

That was until the major opposition parties came together last Friday to throw all their weight behind one of the 12, González, in an effort to back to the Caracas regime into a corner. González’s popularity shot up in just a few hours, with polls published on Monday saying that he would win the July 28 election with 46% of the vote, more than double Maduro’s 22%.

The situation is forcing the regime to choose between two very undesirable options, said Antonio De La Cruz, executive director of Washington-based consulting firm Inter American Trends.

Option one is allowing the 74-year-old career diplomat to run, knowing full well that with the backing of the major parties Maduro could very well lose the election.

Option two would be a rerun of the move against Machado — once again blocking the candidacy of Maduro’s top contender. The problem with that option is González candidacy has already been accepted by the country’s National Electoral Council, and his elimination now from the race would dispel any remaining doubts concerning the process’s lack of transparency.

If the government blocks González from running “it would be the end of this electoral farce,” De La Cruz said. “The election would lose all semblance of credibility and would not be accepted by anybody —and Maduro would be failing in his main objective, which is gaining legitimacy.”

Until this past weekend González lacked much of a public profile, with fewer than 8,000 followers in his X account. Insiders describe him as an honest and capable professional who had a distinguished career as a diplomat.

He also excelled academically field, having obtained a master’s degree in International Relations from the American University in Washington DC, after graduating from the Universidad Central de Venezuela.

For years he played a key role in Venezuela’s diplomatic field, holding several positions in the country’s Foreign Ministry, including serving as ambassador to Argentina.

But the fact that he is literally a political unknown untarnished by the dirty waters of Venezuelan politics is what makes him a dangerous opponent to Maduro, said Venezuela pollster Ruben Chirinos.

“We are talking about a little-known figure who has avoided the general negative perception that most Venezuelan politicians have,” Chirinos said. “Transferring support from one political leader to another tends to be very complex, and falls apart when the person getting the support has a controversial past.”

That does not appear to be the case for Gonzalez, who apears to have no skeletons in his closet. But that does not mean the regime won’t move immediately to tarnish his candidacy, or try to find something that could be used as an argument to block him from running before the election takes place, said José Vicente Carrasquero, who is a political-science professor at Venezuela’s Simón Bolívar University and is currently living in Hollywood, Florida.

“Cheating is their flag,” Carrasquero said. “I don’t quite see how they could come out now and announce they are blocking González’s candidacy, I don’t see what type of arguments they could use and still declare that they are holding a free and fair election.

“But again, they are known for cheating.”