Venezuela's former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez said on Friday he sought diplomatic refuge after being told President Nicolas Maduro's security forces were coming for him. Gonzalez, whom the opposition insist was the real winner of a July election awarded to Maduro,

Venezuela’s former opposition candidate says he was coerced into signing a letter effectively recognizing his defeat in July’s presidential election.

The U.S. government and others around the world have accused Maduro of stealing the July 28 presidential election.