That November morning in 1997 was a stellar moment in the professional career of Edmundo González Urrutia (La Victoria, August 29, 1949).
It had been 26 years since He graduated from the classrooms of the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) as an internationalist. In those corridors of the house that conquers the shadows, he had participated in the student struggle in the midst of the effervescence of the Academic Renewal movement. His Sympathy with the Christian Social Party Copei was evident as well as admiration for its historical figure: Rafael Caldera.
But in November 1997 he took over as Director General of International Policy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the third most important position in that portfolio and for that reason, he had traveled to the state of Nueva Esparta. He was in charge, in his role as secretary pro tempore, of organizing the VII Ibero-American Summit of Heads of State, and for Venezuela, the host was President Caldera, so it can be said that The professional dreams of a young Victorian dreamer and Ucevista had come true.
That Summit was a challenge from every point of view, from accommodation for the 23 heads of State or Government with their teams or the consensus to reach the final declaration after several months of consultations, especially since the theme chosen for the meeting was “The ethical values of democracy”and among the participants were people with little appreciation for this political system, such as the Cuban dictator Fidel Castro Ruz. The Summit was a success and was one of the highlights of Caldera’s second term in office.
No doubt Wenceslao Urrutia, who was chancellor during the Government of Julián Castro in 1858, would have been very proud of the diplomatic career of su tataranietto.
Venezuela turns left
Hugo Chávez became President of the Republic in 1999 and Caldera, instead of administering the oath to the elected president, served as a kind of stunned witness to the words of the new President who swore on “the dying Constitution.”
Distraught and serious, the outgoing president handed over the presidential sash, aware of the risks looming for democracy, even though it was he who years earlier had pardoned Chávez for his coup attempt.
But Edmundo González Urrutia was a career diplomat, he was trained to serve the State and not a political faction, so he continued in active service.
González recalls that he had very little direct communication with Chávez. He had been appointed ambassador to Argentina and recalls that on the occasion of a visit by the Venezuelan president to Buenos Aires, he had to pick him up at the airport. “Chávez had arrived very tired, and while he was on the way he seemed to be asleep. I needed to explain to him some issues that would be discussed during his visit, but he told me to keep talking. My surprise was that when we arrived at the meeting, he repeated exactly what I had told him. He was like a little sponge.”recalled César Miguel Rondón in an interview.
By then, Edmundo González’s diplomatic career was coming to an end. The service time was completed and he could opt for retirement. The last time he visited the administrative headquarters of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Carmelitas, He never imagined the role he would play years later..
The new stage
Retirement was a relief for the González-López family, as the life of an ambassador has the complications of having to constantly rotate from one country of residence to another for his missions. Thus, the family, made up of Mrs. Mercedes López de González and her daughters Carolina and Mariana, became accustomed to permanent moves, with the consequent changes of schools and friends. For the same reason, Mercedes was unable to practice her profession as a dentist (UCV).
Edmundo retired, but he did not intend to stay at home in pajamas and flip-flops. Together with a group of retired diplomats, he founded the Avila Groupa think tank on international affairs that meets periodically to debate and influence public opinion on international issues and Venezuelan foreign policy.
He also writes in 2008 Caracciolo Parra Pereza biography of this illustrious diplomat and historian from Merida y In 2013 he published the book Democracy, Peace and Development, of which he is the compiler and which “brings together the contributions of 22 Venezuelan experts around a diagnosis of the situation of Venezuela in the world, ranging from the use of the oil business to electoral events, border disputes and of course the Caracas-Havana relationship, as well as con “regarding what the country must do to reestablish a foreign policy that is convenient for national interests.”
But the political dynamics are drawing him in. In 2008, an alliance of parties called the Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) was created, which emerged after the extinction of the so-called Democratic Coordinator.
Ramón Guillermo Aveledo, also of a Christian Social background, was appointed as executive secretary of this organization. He invited Edmundo González to become the director of International Affairs for the alliance and to develop academic activities at the Fermín Toro Institute of Parliamentary Studies, which Aveledo also directs.
González Urrutia had already been doing part of the work in the MUD at Grupo Ávila, monitoring the international environment and its implications for Venezuela and establishing recommendations. But now, he had to make the struggle for the recovery of democracy visible on the international level and, to do so, make contact with politicians and diplomats from around the world.
But after internal differences, the MUD disappeared as an institution coordinating opposition parties, but its legal validity and with it its right to nominate candidates remained.
History catches up with Edmundo González in 2024. The MUD had to register María Corina Machado, elected in the primary elections of the previous year to be the unitary candidate and the CNE prevents itThey then tried to register Corina Yoris, who also did not have the regime’s approval, but at the last minute the registration of a “cover candidate” was accepted, who then had to be replaced (perhaps by Manuel Rosales). González was chosen to take the place of the final candidate.
Machado refuses to support the governor of Zulia and he decides to give up his aspiration. The opposition leader, with the support of the Unitary Platform, decides that “the lid should be the bottle”, that is, to promote Edmundo’s presidential option and that is what she proposes.
So there is tension in the González-López house due to the unusual proposal. “Presidential candidate?”they wonder in surprise at home, But after a family debate they give him full support.despite the fear that does not subside.
Edmundo, or “Cucho” as his friends in La Victoria call him, agreed to be a presidential candidate and this Sunday, July 28, he could become president-elect, with the promise of paving the way for Venezuelan democracy.
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Edmundo González with Machado at the closing of the campaign in Caracas/ Courtesy of Comando Con Venezuela#Edmundo #González #retired #diplomat #caught #history
2024-09-21 13:05:42
