Venezuela opposition says Maduro pressured them into recognizing defeat

Venezuela’s opposition presidential candidate — widely seen to have won July’s disputed election — alleged he was forced to sign a letter admitting defeat in order to flee to Spain.

Incumbent President Nicolás Maduro claimed a thumping victory, but international observers allege rampant fraud.

His opponent, Edmundo González, said in a post on X that he was subjected to “tense hours of coercion, blackmail, and pressure.”

Top Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado, meanwhile, told El País that “the regime exerted very cruel pressure” on González to drive him abroad. Speaking herself from a secret location, she added: “They have no scruples, they are capable of overstepping any boundaries.”