Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez, pictured here with fellow Unitary Platform coalition figure Maria Corina Machado (L) after July's election, said he was forced to accept Nicolas Maduro as the winner in exchange for safe passage out of the country. File photo by Ronald Pena R/EPA-EFE
Sept. 19 (UPI) -- Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez said he was forced to accept Nicolas Maduro as the victor in July's disputed presidential election to get out of the Spanish Embassy in Caracas and escape from the country.
Maduro staff bullied him into signing a document recognizing his incumbent opponent had won when he was under the protection of the Spanish mission as a condition of allowing him to receive asylum in Spain, Gonzalez said late Wednesday in a video posted on X.
The Unitary Platform alliance leader said the document wasn't worth the paper it was written on but that he had to "sign it or deal with the consequences," referring to a warrant for his arrest on terrorism, conspiracy and other crimes related to the election -- all of which he denies.
"There were very tense hours of coercion, blackmail and pressure. At that point I considered I could be of more use free than if I were imprisoned," Gonzalez said.
He reiterated that he was the legitimate leader the Venezuelan people had chosen, pledging to "fulfill" their mandate.
"I am the president-elected of millions and millions of Venezuelans who voted for change, democracy and peace."
Gonzalez landed in Madrid on Sept. 8 where he was granted political asylum and while the authorities could not touch him inside the embassy in Caracas as it is sovereign Spanish territory, his safe passage out of the country required the permission of the Maduro administration.
July's election has been widely discredited after the Venezuela National Electoral declared Maduro, who has been in office since 2013, the winner of a third term despite Gonzalez leading by a huge margin in the polls and concerns over a crackdown on opposition figures and voting irregularities.
The United States has recognized Gonzalez as the legitimate winner while most governments in the region, the European Union and the majority of other Western governments have refused to recognize Maduro as the winner in the absence of detailed voting data being released to validate the result.
The Maduro regime hit back at Gonzalez's claims saying he signed the document in question freely and of his own accord.
National Assembly leader Jorge Rodríguez threatened to release a recording of the interaction proving Gonzalez was lying in "24 hours," unless he recanted his allegations.
He produced photos of a meeting he had with Gonzalez and Vice President Delcy Rodríguez that he claimed took place at the Spanish embassy the night before Gonzalez left the country.
"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 said.
"Venezuelans can think in one way or another and all of them have a place in the territory of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela. Here there's no place for violence or fascism."
