{"id":2343197,"date":"2024-09-19T04:49:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-19T08:49:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/venezuelas-opposition-candidate-forced-to-accept-maduro-presidential-election-win-washington-examiner\/"},"modified":"2024-09-19T04:50:53","modified_gmt":"2024-09-19T08:50:53","slug":"venezuelas-opposition-candidate-forced-to-accept-maduro-presidential-election-win-washington-examiner","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/venezuelas-opposition-candidate-forced-to-accept-maduro-presidential-election-win-washington-examiner\/","title":{"rendered":"Venezuela\u2019s opposition candidate \u2018forced\u2019 to accept Maduro presidential election win &#8211; Washington Examiner"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fvenezuelas-opposition-candidate-forced-to-accept-maduro-presidential-election-win-washington-examiner%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2343197&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Venezuela\u2019s \u2063opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, has been compelled to acknowledge \u200dNicolas Maduro&#8217;s victory\u200c in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/are-covid-case-surges-more-fake-news\/\" title=\"Are COVID Case Surges More Fake News?\">presidential election<\/a>\u2063 held in\u200d July, despite\u200b his claims of being the true winner based\u2062 on official vote counts. In a recent video, Gonzalez\u200c revealed \u200cthat he was pressured by Maduro&#8217;s regime to sign a letter conceding defeat, stating that he faced dire \u2064consequences if he did not comply.\u2062 Following the announcement of Maduro as the victor by the National \u2062Electoral Council, which\u2063 has \u200bbeen surrounded by controversy, Gonzalez felt threatened for his safety and ultimately fled \u2062to Spain, where he was granted \u2064asylum. In \u200dhis statement, Gonzalez characterized the letter as a product of coercion and a strategic decision to protect himself, arguing that being a political prisoner \u2063would only hinder the opposition \u200bmovement against Maduro. He described the circumstances he faced as filled with coercion and blackmail, and \u2062he signed the letter to avoid further personal harm.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">Venezuela&rsquo;s opposition candidate &lsquo;forced&rsquo; to accept Maduro presidential election win<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1763999\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p>Venezuela&rsquo;s opposition candidate was forced to admit Nicolas Maduro as the election winner in July. Edmundo Gonzalez released a video message on Wednesday claiming that the Maduro regime pressured him into signing a letter stating he lost the election.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>&ldquo;I had to either sign it or deal with the consequences,&rdquo; Gonzalez <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/live-news\/20240918-venezuelan-opposition-candidate-says-letter-conceding-election-was-coerced\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said on X on Wednesday<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The country&rsquo;s presidential election has been mired in controversy ever since Maduro, the incumbent, was declared the winner by the country&rsquo;s National Electoral Council. Gonzalez has been widely considered the real election winner, as official tallies reportedly showed Gonzalez with more votes than Maduro. However, Maduro refused to cede power, and, after weeks of protests throughout Venezuela, Gonzalez was eventually forced to flee the country. He is currently residing in Spain, where he was granted asylum.<\/p>\n<p>Gonzalez detailed the precarious situation the Maduro regime forced on him. He recalled fearing for his life and explained if he didn&rsquo;t sign a letter admitting defeat, there would be problems.<\/p>\n<p>In the letter, Gonzalez stated that he respected Venezuela&rsquo;s National Electoral Council&rsquo;s decision to declare Maduro the winner. It was addressed to National Assembly leader Jorge Rodriguez with a date of Sept. 7, <a target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/live-news\/20240918-venezuelan-opposition-candidate-says-letter-conceding-election-was-coerced\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">according to reports<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Gonzalez categorized the letter as a compromised statement caused by &ldquo;coercion,&rdquo; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/senate-expected-to-push-build-back-better-vote-into-2022\/\" title=\"Senate Expected To Push Build Back Better Vote Into 2022\">multiple outlets reported<\/a>. He explained that signing the letter under duress was part of a strategy that would ensure his safety, which would be more beneficial to the political movement against Maduro than if he was held in custody as a political prisoner.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;There were very tense hours of coercion, blackmail, and pressure,&rdquo; Gonzalez said.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;At that point, I considered I could be of more use free than if I were imprisoned,&rdquo; he said.<\/p>\n<p>After Gonzalez&rsquo;s statement was released, Jorge Rodriguez, the head of the National Assembly of Venezuela, and political ally of Maduro, claimed Gonzalez&rsquo;s letter was genuine and that the former <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/buttigieg-sends-brutal-letter-to-southwest-ceo-demanding-airline-follow-through-with-reimbursing-travelers\/\" title=\"Buttigieg writes a brutal letter to Southwest CEO, requesting that they follow through on their promise to reimburse travelers.\">presidential candidate wrote<\/a> his signature on his own accord without any threats or pressure.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;If you signed under pressure, how is it that one of your daughters still lives in Venezuela peacefully, with her family, as regular Venezuelans?&rdquo; Rodriguez posed as a theoretical question.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong><\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Additionally, Rodriguez threatened to make recordings of conversations between Gonzalez and himself public, which would supposedly refute all of Gonzalez&rsquo;s claims. Rodriguez said he would give Gonzalez 24 hours to retract his assertions.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Despite these threats, it does not appear Gonzalez is planning to do so.<\/p>\n<p>In his video message on X, he referred to himself as &ldquo;president-elected of millions and millions of Venezuelans who voted for change, democracy and peace.&rdquo; He vowed to uphold that pledge and &ldquo;fulfill that mandate.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1763999\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1763999\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Venezuela&#8217;s opposition candidate was compelled to acknowledge Nicolas Maduro as the victor of the presidential election held in July. Edmundo Gonzalez shared a video message on Wednesday, asserting that he was coerced by the Maduro regime into signing a letter declaring his defeat. &#8220;I had no choice but to sign it or face repercussions,&#8221; Gonzalez stated on X. The election has been surrounded by controversy since Maduro, the current president, was proclaimed the winner by Venezuela&#8217;s National Electoral Council. Many believe Gonzalez actually won, as official results indicated he received more votes than Maduro. Nevertheless, Maduro refused to relinquish power and after weeks of protests across Venezuela, Gonzalez ultimately fled to Spain where he has been granted asylum.<\/p>\n<p>Gonzalez described the dire circumstances imposed upon him by the Maduro regime. He expressed fear for his safety and explained that failing to sign a letter acknowledging his loss would lead to serious issues for him. In this letter, which was addressed to National Assembly leader Jorge Rodriguez and dated September 7, Gonzalez stated that he respected the decision of Venezuela\u2019s National Electoral Council in declaring Maduro victorious. He characterized this letter as a compromised statement resulting from &#8220;coercion.&#8221; Signing it under pressure was part of a strategy aimed at ensuring his safety\u2014he believed being free would be more advantageous for opposing Maduro than being imprisoned as a political prisoner.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There were very tense hours filled with coercion and blackmail,&#8221; said Gonzalez. &#8220;At that moment, I thought I could be more useful outside than if I were locked up.&#8221; Following his statement&#8217;s release, Jorge Rodriguez claimed that Gonzalez\u2019s letter was authentic and insisted that he signed it voluntarily without any threats or pressure involved. Rodriguez posed a rhetorical question: \u201cIf you signed under duress, how is it possible your daughter still lives peacefully in Venezuela with her family?\u201d Additionally, Rodriguez threatened to publicly disclose recordings of conversations between himself and Gonzalez which would allegedly contradict all of Gonzales&#8217; claims; he gave Gonzales 24 hours to retract his statements.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these threats, there are no indications that Gonzalez intends to back down. In his video message on X, he referred to himself as \u201cthe elected president of millions who voted for change, democracy and peace,\u201d pledging to uphold this commitment and fulfill their mandate<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2677,"featured_media":2343198,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Gonzalez.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[36612,3760,5894,32183,14099],"class_list":["post-2343197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-maduro","tag-opposition","tag-politics","tag-presidential-election","tag-venezuela"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/Gonzalez.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2343197","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2677"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2343197"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2343197\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2343198"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2343197"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2343197"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2343197"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}