González denounces coercion by Maduro’s regime to allow him to leave Venezuela

Eduardo González The Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo González Urrutia revealed yesterday that he signed a document during his stay at the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas, presented by representatives of the Government of Nicolás Maduro under the threat that if he did not do so he would have to "face the consequences," a "coercion" that in his opinion nullifies the text. In a video broadcast through his social networks, González Urrutia, exiled since September 8 in Spain where he seeks political asylum, thus responds to the presentation by the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, of a "signed letter" in which the opposition leader says he abides by the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice of his country to validate Maduro's victory in the elections of July 28. The opposition leader explains that, while he was sheltered in the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas, he was presented with a document that he had to sign in order to obtain the safe conduct that would allow him to leave Venezuela for exile. In his message, he describes the moment in which he signed the document, "very tense hours of coercion, blackmail and pressure" carried out by the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly and the vice president of the country, Delcy Rodríguez. "In other words, either I signed or I faced the consequences. There were very tense hours of coercion, blackmail and pressure, at that time I considered that I could be more useful free than locked up and unable to fulfill the tasks entrusted to me by the sovereign," he reflects. "A document produced under coercion is tainted with absolute nullity by a serious flaw in consent," he adds. On the contrary, the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Jorge Rodríguez, assured that it was González himself who in the previous days contacted the Chavista authorities to let them know of his "desire" to leave the country. He added that he and Delcy Rodríguez were invited the night of González's departure to the Spanish Embassy in Caracas, where the signing of the document took place, in which the opposition member assumed compliance with the decisions adopted by the organs of justice that emanate from the Constitution, even though he did not agree with them. Leaders of the PP yesterday demanded explanations from the Minister of Foreign Affairs, José Manuel Albares, in order to "clarify the accusations" of Edmundo González. They want him to say whether Spain "granted political asylum to the person who won the elections once the regime managed to blackmail him and get from him what they wanted with threats and coercion." PP sources told Europa Press that they want to know "if the ambassador in Venezuela was present during the threats denounced by Edmundo González" or "if on the contrary he left the room to let Maduro's envoys do their thing." According to the Popular Party, the Government of Pedro Sánchez, who has said that "he did not negotiate anything with the regime" of Maduro, "allowed the entry" into the Spanish embassy "of two high-ranking officials of the Venezuelan dictatorship so that they could threaten González on Spanish soil." The Senate asks to recognize González Meanwhile, in Spain, the Senate plenary yesterday approved a motion by the People´s Party in which the Government is urged to recognize Edmundo González as “the new president of Venezuela”, in view of the results of the elections of July 28. The vote took place a week after the Congress approved a non-legislative proposal of the PP in the same sense, which was approved thanks to the support of the PNV and was rejected by the PSOE deputies. In this case, the proposal was approved with 149 votes in favour (those of the PP - which has an absolute majority in the Lower House -, Vox, UPN and Junts) and 102 against (PSOE and its investiture partners) and two abstentions - Independent Herreña Group (AGI) and Gomera Socialist Association (ASG). The PNV, whose favourable votes were decisive in Congress, did not participate in the vote. However, Junts did, which was absent from the Lower House due to the Diada celebrations. The approved text states that “the Government of Spain cannot continue to generate doubts about its position in relation to the process of transition to democracy that has opened in Venezuela after the elections of July 28th of last year”. In this sense, it warns that “it is no longer enough to simply appeal to the Barbados Agreements, systematically breached by the Nicolás Maduro regime; It is no longer enough to demand, in general terms, transparent and clean electoral processes in any place on the planet; it is no longer enough to demand the publication of the minutes with the figures corresponding to the electoral count of the electoral process concluded on July 28; it is no longer enough to offer asylum to those who suffer political persecution and repression for their ideas, values and principles.” “The minutes of the count exhibited by the democratic opposition, whose data has in no way been countered by the National Electoral Commission (CEN) dependent on Maduro, show without any doubt that Venezuelans voted massively for a change of government and the opening of a process of transition to democracy,” the motion continues. “67% of the electoral support was obtained by the candidacy of Edmundo González Urrutia, compared to 31% for the candidacy of the current president, Nicolás Maduro. Forty-four days after the election on July 28, these are the only reliable data available to Venezuelan society and the international community,” he added. Therefore, the Senate “urges the Government of Spain to recognize Edmundo González Urrutia as the new president of Venezuela.” During the debate, José Antonio Monago Terraza, from the PP, stated that “the response of the Government of Spain has been as sad as it is shameful.” “The records no longer exist, they were shredded by the Maduro dictatorship. The people of Venezuela spoke with a united voice: Edmundo González Urrutia won with 67% of the votes,” continued the senator, who, in the face of the “complicity and passivity” of the Executive, demanded that Spain lead the EU “with democratic principles without any excuse,” supporting specific sanctions against the regime, and go to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to issue an arrest warrant against Nicolás Maduro and the rest of the leaders for crimes against humanity. For his part, the socialist senator Rafael Lemus regretted that the PP has tried to “turn the Venezuelan elections into the main problem of the Spanish people” and accused the PP of giving “arguments to the Maduro regime to entrench itself and try to make Spain the main problem of the Venezuelans”. Likewise, Gabriel Colomé, also from the PSOE, reproached the PP’s “strategy of harassment and demolition”, which Venezuela is using “in a Spanish political key”, and praised the Government’s actions “in favour of democracy and human and political rights” in Venezuela. Venezuelan National Assembly After the vote in Congress, the president of the Venezuelan National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, called on the Maduro government to break off relations with Spain in response to this “declaration of war.” In this regard, the Foreign Policy Committee of the Venezuelan Parliament presented a draft resolution on Tuesday urging the government to “evaluate the breaking off of diplomatic and commercial relations” with Spain. The text “categorically rejects the disastrous resolution promoted by the fascist right of the Congress of Spain” and demands that the Spanish government “respect the decisions of the Venezuelan people, who sovereignly elected citizen Nicolás Maduro Moros as re-elected president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela.” It also urges the Venezuelan government to "evaluate in a timely manner the breaking of diplomatic and commercial relations with the Kingdom of Spain as a reciprocal action for the rude and interventionist proposal adopted by the Congress of Spain against Venezuelan institutions."

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