The President of Costa Rica, Rodrigo Chaves, received at the Presidential House the president-elect of Venezuela, Edmundo González Urrutia. The Venezuelan opposition politician also held a meeting at the Legislative Assembly. President Rodrigo Chaves expressed his respect and admiration for both González and leader María Corina Machado.
“You have shown courage and fighting spirit to recover the democracy that has been expropriated from you,” said Chaves. Chaves emphasized that the moral duty of Costa Rica, both the government and its citizens, is to support Venezuela morally, the winner of the elections, so that after two and a half decades, it can finally regain its freedom, democracy, and the rights of its citizens.
“May God bless every Venezuelan and every Costa Rican who walks this world with peace, prosperity, freedom, and democracy. And may God bless you, Edmundo,” added Chaves. Meanwhile, the president-elect of Venezuela pointed out that “Costa Rica has always been synonymous with happiness, peace, civility, and democracy.”
“We are happy to be able to say once again with pride and gratitude that this beautiful country nestled in the heart of Central America is a bastion of democracy in the entire region and a warm refuge in times of anxiety,” he said. González also acknowledged that in the hearts of Venezuelans, the flame of freedom and the republican spirit is kept alive.
The president of the Legislative Assembly, Rodrigo Arias, urged Venezuelan leaders to continue with their fight. “President, Costa Rica welcomes you with hope and conviction; keep going forward with the certainty that, as our own history teaches us, the efforts for freedom always find their reward,” Arias commented.
Later, Edmundo González spoke to the Venezuelans who gathered at the Plaza de la Democracia and told them to prepare to return to their country. “Prepare your suitcases because one of my first decrees as president of the Republic will be ‘Vuelvan Caras,’ so that all Venezuelans committed to the motherland return to the country,” said González to his followers.
