Venezuelan Opposition Candidate Says Letter Conceding Election Was Coerced

Gonzalez Urrutia says the document bearing his signature is worthless (Credit: AFP)

Venezuela's opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia said Wednesday he had been coerced into signing a letter distributed by Venezuelan authorities in which he supposedly conceded election defeat to strongman President Nicolas Maduro.

In the letter, dated September 7 and addressed to parliamentary leader Jorge Rodriguez, Gonzalez Urrutia said "I respect" the regime-aligned CNE electoral council's proclamation of Maduro as the winner of the July 28 vote.