Venezuela's former opposition candidate, Edmundo González, revealed on Wednesday that he was pressured into signing a letter acknowledging his defeat in July's presidential election, which electoral authorities attribute to President Nicolás Maduro. The letter, intended to be confidential, was brought to light during a press conference by Jorge Rodríguez, head of the National Assembly and Maduro's chief negotiator.
González, who recently left for exile in Spain, asserts that he and the Unitary Platform coalition he represented actually emerged victorious over Maduro by a significant margin. However, he claims he signed the letter under duress, stating that he was coerced with threats and pressure to sign it in order to leave the country.
Despite Rodríguez's assertion that González signed the letter willingly, the former diplomat maintains that he was forced to do so. The National Electoral Council, dominated by Maduro loyalists, swiftly declared Maduro the winner of the election without providing detailed vote counts, leading to widespread skepticism.
The opposition coalition collected voting records from the majority of the nation's electronic voting machines, which they made public online. According to González and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, these records indicated that González had secured double the number of votes compared to Maduro.
Subsequently, González found himself facing an arrest warrant in connection with the publication of the voting records. Amid global criticism of the election's lack of transparency, Maduro requested an audit by Venezuela's Supreme Tribunal of Justice, which upheld his victory.
While González publicly expressed disagreement with the tribunal's decision, he stated in the letter that he would abide by it as it was a ruling of the highest court. Nevertheless, in a video message, he proclaimed himself as the 'elected president of millions of Venezuelans' and vowed to fulfill their mandate.
Venezuela's political turmoil continues as the country approaches the start of the next presidential term on January 10, which will span six years.
