On the day Edmundo González was plucked from obscurity and chosen to confront South America’s longest-serving authoritarian leader, technicians were busy making sure his home wasn’t bugged.
“It wasn’t in our plans,” his wife, Mercedes López de González, said in an interview that April day in their apartment in Caracas, Venezuela’s capital.
Not long ago, Mr. González, 74, was a retired diplomat and grandfather of four with no political aspirations. He was busy writing academic papers, speaking at conferences, and taking his grandchildren to hairdressers and music lessons. Few people in his native Venezuela knew his name.
Now, many Venezuelans hope he will end years of repressive rule as he challenges President Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, in elections scheduled for late July.
Mr. González suddenly finds a full-time job.
“Twice a day I have to wipe the phone,” he said in a brief interview. “I deleted almost 150 messages. I go to bed at 1 a.m. and by 4 a.m. I’m back on my feet and working again. I never would have imagined this. »
After years of rigged elections and political persecution, Venezuelans yearning for a return to democracy have learned to expect disappointment.
A coalition of opposing parties, the Roundtable for Democratic Unity, has sought to unite behind a single candidate who could pose a viable challenge to Mr. Maduro, but his government has thrown up a series of obstacles.
Ultimately, Mr. González emerged as a candidate whom the government would not seek to block and whom the opposition would support.
He accepted the role, but friends and colleagues say it was a role he never prepared for.
“Edmundo is not a man who has ever had political ambitions,” said Phil Gunson, a Venezuela expert for the International Crisis Group in Caracas and a friend of Mr. González. “He is someone who does what he considers his duty.”
Some experts say his low profile could prevent Mr. González from gaining traction with voters, particularly outside Caracas, where the news comes from government-controlled media outlets that are unlikely to give his campaign much coverage.
Mr. Gonzalez, unlike other opposition leaders, has also not openly criticized the Maduro government and its human rights record, which has raised concerns among some analysts who say Holding those responsible accountable for their abuses is crucial to restoring the rule of law in the country. .
On the day he put his name on the ballot, Mr. González declined to speak at length about the election.
The youngest of three siblings, Mr. González was born into a family of modest means in the small town of La Victoria, about 50 miles west of Caracas. His mother was a schoolteacher and his father was a merchant who discouraged him from his childhood dream of becoming a diplomat, calling it “a job for the rich”, according to the candidate’s daughter, Carolina González.
Undeterred, he continued his studies in international relations at the Central University of Venezuela.
In college, he was a dedicated student, recalled his classmate and longtime friend, Imelda Cisneros. It was a politically tumultuous time when a far-left communist ideology was becoming popular on campus and tensions were high.
But Mr. González became a student leader “with a very calm approach to reconciliation,” she said.
“He wanted to be diplomatic,” Ms. Cisneros added. “He was very clear about his goal from the start.”
He joined the Foreign Service shortly after graduating in 1970, with assignments in Belgium, El Salvador and the United States, where he earned a master’s degree in international affairs at American University in Washington.
He was then appointed ambassador to Algeria, then to Argentina, where he served when Hugo Chavez was elected president in 1999. Mr. Chavez then consolidated his power under the banner of a socialist-inspired revolution.
Mr. González returned to Venezuela in 2002 and soon retired from the foreign service.
In 2008, he became active in a coalition of opposition parties called the Round Table for Democratic Unity, advising behind the scenes on international relations issues.
He became president of the coalition’s board of directors in 2021, said Ramón Guillermo Aveledo, the coalition’s former executive secretary.
But most people, even in Venezuelan political circles, did not know he held the position until his presidential candidacy was announced, because opposition leaders are often persecuted.
It is therefore risky for Mr. González to put himself in the spotlight against an outgoing president determined to retain power.
“I’m nervous because we don’t know if anything could happen to us,” Ms. López de González said.
Those who know Mr. González say that running a presidential campaign is not something he would take lightly.
“He is an extremely balanced, calm, quite serious and above all sober man,” said Ramón José Medina, who chaired the Round Table for Democratic Unity until 2014 and has been a friend of Mr. González for decades .
Mr. Maduro signed an agreement with the opposition in October to take steps toward free and fair elections, and the United States temporarily lifted some harsh economic sanctions as a gesture of goodwill.
Days later, a former national lawmaker, María Corina Machado, won the primary election with more than 90 percent of the vote, making her a significant threat to Mr. Maduro in a head-to-head matchup.
Since then, the Maduro government has set up roadblocks to prevent a serious opponent from running for office.
First, the highest court in the land disqualified Ms. Machado in January for what judges said were financial irregularities that occurred when she was a national lawmaker — a tactic commonly used to exclude viable competitors from the ballot.
Then last month, the government blocked an opposition coalition from fielding another preferred candidate using technical electoral maneuvers just before the registration deadline.
Only one politician, Manuel Rosales, seen by political analysts as Mr. Maduro’s green light, was allowed to register. It briefly appeared that efforts to present a unified candidate had failed.
But, surprisingly, the coalition announced that the national electoral authority had granted it an extension, thus paving the way for Mr. González’s official entry into the race. Mr. Rosales withdrew and threw his support behind Mr. González.
Mr. González’s career as a “consensus seeker” helped him unite the opposition, Mr. Gunson said.
“He’s someone who’s acceptable to a lot of different people,” he added. “And he doesn’t offend anyone.”
Those qualities could also make it more likely that Maduro’s government would cede power to him if he were to win, said Tamara Taraciuk Broner, a Venezuela expert for the Inter-American Dialogue, a research organization in Washington.
Experts say Mr. Maduro might be willing to concede defeat if he were granted an amnesty for human rights violations and his party was given a continued role in the country’s political system.
On this front, Mr. González was more conciliatory than the other candidates. Ms. Machado said Mr. Maduro and members of his administration should be held criminally accountable for corruption and human rights violations.
Mr. González said in interviews that he is willing to discuss with the Maduro government to ensure a smooth transfer of power.
“His main challenge will be to maintain that balance between keeping the opposition behind a unified candidacy and ensuring that his candidacy does not pose an unbearable threat to the regime,” Ms. Taraciuk Broner said. “And it’s a very fine line.”
A survey shows him already defeating Mr. Maduro, although the survey also shows that about a third of those surveyed said they did not know who they would vote for and about 20 percent said they would not vote for any candidate in the race.
Mr. Aveledo said he hoped Mr. González would be able to convince Venezuelans in the coming weeks.
“Finally someone who speaks with serenity, with moderation, who thinks about problems and solutions, who speaks without shouting, without insulting,” he declared. “Because the country is very tired of conflicts. »
