González claimed in a video message that earlier this month, while he was hiding at the Spanish embassy in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, Maduro’s aides forced him to sign a letter.
A significant ally of Maduro, Jorge Rodríguez, the head of Venezuela’s National Assembly, asserted that González had signed the document voluntarily.
Maduro’s loyalist electoral institutions declared him the election’s winner, a claim that González and many other members of the international community contested.
González, 75, stated in Madrid’s video message on X on Wednesday that he was presented the letter by Maduro’s assistants and that “I had to either sign it or deal with the consequences”.
González described the signed letter as “worthless” and added, “At that point I considered I could be of more use free than if I were imprisoned.” “There were very tense hours of coercion, blackmail, and pressure.”
After being given asylum in Spain, González declared his intention to “fulfill that mandate” and referred to himself as the “president-elected of millions and millions of Venezuelans who voted for change, democracy, and peace”.
