CARACAS (Reuters) -Venezuela opposition chief Edmundo Gonzalez, who stood towards President Nicolas Maduro in July’s election, on Wednesday mentioned he was pressured to signal a letter accepting a ruling from the nation’s prime courtroom which acknowledged Maduro’s victory.
“Both I signed or I confronted the implications,” he mentioned in a press release.
Gonzalez is presently in Spain, the place he was granted political asylum earlier this month following the difficulty of a warrant for his arrest in Venezuela.
The nationwide electoral council proclaimed Maduro the victor of the presidential election, which happened on July 28, prompting allegations of fraud and widespread protest because the opposition revealed vote tallies on-line which they mentioned confirmed Gonzalez had received.
Earlier this week, a U.N. report mentioned Maduro’s authorities escalated repressive techniques to crush peaceable protests and hold energy within the aftermath of the South American nation’s disputed election.
The declaration by Venezuela’s prime electoral authority was authorized by the nation’s Supreme Courtroom, though officers haven’t revealed vote tallies displaying Maduro’s victory.
Gonzalez mentioned he was met on the Spanish embassy in Caracas by Venezuela’s Vice President Delcy Rodriguez and her brother Jorge Rodriguez, president of the Nationwide Meeting, who gave him the letter to signal.
“There adopted very tense hours of coercion, blackmail and stress,” Gonzalez mentioned, including he felt he can be extra helpful in freedom than locked up.
“A doc produced beneath duress is completely nugatory, on account of a critical lack of consent,” the assertion added.
In Caracas, Jorge Rodriguez offered a two-page letter signed by Gonzalez and mentioned the previous presidential candidate, 75, had 24 hours to retract his claims.
“Should you do not deny that in 24 hours, I’ll launch the audios, it is as much as you, Mr. Gonzalez,” Rodriguez mentioned, referring to the conferences he and his sister held with Gonzalez.