Venezuela Opposition Leader Forced To Sign Letter Backing Maduro
"Either I signed or I would face consequences," Edmundo González said.
Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González claims the regime forced him to sign a letter recognizing Nicolás Maduro as the winner of July's disputed presidential election.
"Either I signed or I would face consequences," González explained in a video posted to social media. "There were very tense hours of coercion, blackmail and pressure." The letter, according to González, was a condition for his escape to Spain, where he arrived on Sunday after weeks in hiding.
Venezuela's National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner of the July 28 election, citing 51 percent of the vote for Maduro and 44 for González. But the official results were never released. Instead, the opposition published its own data, claiming that González won a decisive victory with 67 percent of the vote, compared to just 30 percent for Maduro.
Despite international support for the opposition's findings—including recognition from the U.S. and other countries—Venezuela's high court, controlled by Maduro's allies, claimed the opposition's data were false.
Venezuelan authorities issued an arrest warrant for González, accusing him of "crimes associated with terrorism." Denying any wrongdoing, González went into hiding the day after the election until his escape to Spain.
In his video statement, González claimed that Maduro's aides arrived at the Spanish embassy in Caracas with the letter demanding his signature. The letter required González to recognize Venezuela's national authorities, limit his public activity abroad, and refrain from representing the Venezuelan state in any formal or informal capacity.
Shortly after González's video statement, the head of Venezuela's national assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, presented the signed letter on national television, claiming it was signed voluntarily. The letter itself, however, says it was meant to be confidential.
"If you signed under pressure, how is it that one of your daughters still lives in Venezuela peacefully, with her family, as regular Venezuelans?" Rodriguez asked. He also threatened to release audio recordings of his conversation with González if the opposition leader did not take back his claims.
Despite threats, González remains defiant. Speaking from Spain, he continues to refer to himself as the "president-elect of millions and millions of Venezuelans who voted for change, democracy, and peace." He vowed to "fulfill that mandate," regardless of the regime's pressure.
