While the old Guaidó lives it up in Florida, at somebody’s apparent expense, the new Guaidó, Edmundo González Urritia, seems determined to spoil Maduro’s party.
The former US-selected interim president of Venezuela Juan Guaidó is currently living in Florida, where he gives occasional classes at the Florida International University’s Adam Smith Center for Economic Freedom while under investigation by the FBI for allegedly fleecing US taxpayers. In recent days, Guaidó, who is also wanted on charges of treason, usurpation of functions and money laundering back in his home country, was caught on a smartphone camera drinking and chatting at one of Florida’s most exclusive tennis clubs.
While Guaidó wines and dines with Florida’s well-to-do, many Venezuelans are asking themselves how he is able to fund such a lavish lifestyle. From the Brazilian media outlet Globo Vision (machine translated from Spanish):
Juan Guaidó is once again viral on social media for his pleasures in Miami, United States, after appearing playing paddle tennis with his wealthy friends and squandering the money he stole from the Venezuelan people.
A video shows him very comfortable and happy wearing sportswear at an important paddle tennis club in Miami, this after having asked for sanctions against Venezuela and promoting suffocation of the Venezuelan family.
It should be noted that the former deputy and fugitive from Venezuelan justice has not been able to explain how he covers his luxuries in the North American nation.
In mid-2023, it was impossible for him to explain in an interview how he covers his living expenses, or what he lives on, while he remains in the United States, a country in which he is a refugee.
“I am an engineer. I have two postgraduate degrees,” was the response of the former parliamentarian, who did not offer further details on whether he practices this profession to finance his stay in the North American country. When asked how he supports himself abroad, the journalist said: “I do not believe that you are working as an engineer these days.”
In addition, at the end of 2023, the media reported that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) of the United States is investigating the destination of millions of dollars that the White House approved for humanitarian aid for the so-called “interim government” headed by Guaidó.
On the relentless social networks, comments against Guaidó are gaining ground. Users talk about the significant transformation since his flight to the United States and wonder about that life in Miami, characterized by luxury and comfort.
The New Guaidó
But where is the new Guaidó?
Edmundo González Urrutia, the 75-year old former diplomat who, according to the opposition’s calculations, won Venezuela’s elections on July 28 by a landslide, only to flee to Spain just over a month later, has spent the past week touring Latin America trying to drum up support for his claim to the presidency. The countries he visited include Argentina, where he was given a hero’s welcome by Argentine President Javier Milei; Uruguay; the United States, where he met with Biden but was unable to secure a meeting with Trump; Panama and the Dominican Republic.
Here is a tweet from the original Juan Guaidó celebrating Guaidó 2.0’s appearance at the Casa Rosada in Argentina alongside Milei. “We will be free,” Guaidó writes, before thanking Milei for “bearing witness to the defence of democracy”:
Here is another video of a very frail-looking González backstage being supported and shepherded by two women, one of whom I believe is his daughter. This is a man who, to all intents and purposes, can barely walk without the help of others, who makes even Biden look fit and strong, yet who is expected (by some) to seize power from Maduro today.
Of course, González Urritia is nothing more than a place-holder for Marina Corina Machado, who is the de facto leader of Venezuela’s main opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform. Machado was barred from standing for election in July due to corruption charges and because, for years, she has toured the world trying to organize a US or Israel-led invasion of Venezuela. Often referred to by her supporters as “Venezuela’s Iron Lady”, she is also the CIA’s lady in Caracas. Unlike González Urritia, she is still in Venezuela, albeit in hiding.
So, where is González now?
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Nick Corbishley 