- Hezbollah chief admits 'unprecedented' blow in device blasts
- Sales of US existing homes slip slightly in August
- Fear, panic haunt Lebanese after devices explode
- Labuschagne sparks Australia fightback in England ODI opener
- S.Africa's HIV research power couple says fight goes on
- Why is Israel focusing on border with Lebanon?
- Mpox vaccines administered in Rwanda, first in Africa
- US Fed rate cut is 'very positive sign' for economy: Yellen
- Unknown Mozart string trio discovered in Germany
- 'Are we five-year-olds?' F1 drivers won't mind their language
- Brazil judge orders X to reimpose block or face hefty fine
- Munich to rename stadium street after Beckenbauer
- Champions Italy to face Argentina in Davis Cup Final 8
- The winding, fitful path to weight loss drug Ozempic
- Italians defeat American Magic to reach Louis Vuitton Cup final
- Norris has 'nothing to lose' as he hunts Verstappen in Singapore
- Kyiv 'outraged' at Swiss showing of Russian war film
- French city renames Abbe Pierre square after abuse claims
- Footballer charged after huge cannabis seizure at UK airport
- Vatican recognises Medjugorje shrine, but not Virgin's messages
- Bank of England freezes rate after jumbo US cut
- Playing Nadal is 'kind of a nightmare', says Alcaraz
- Portugal tackles last of deadly northern forest fires
- Ton-up Ashwin lifts India to 339-6 against Bangladesh
- Departing NATO chief warns US against 'isolationism'
- Coming winter 'sternest test yet' for Ukraine energy grid
- Evacuations as tail of Storm Boris floods northeast Italy
- Lebanon's Hezbollah reeling after second wave of deadly blasts
- Taiwan recognises same-sex marriages between Chinese, Taiwanese
- Stock markets rally after jumbo US rate cut
- Gabon's ousted leader Bongo says renouncing politics for good
- Lebanon device blasts: what we know about deadly attacks
- Late Harrods owner Al-Fayed accused of rape: BBC
- Hong Kong man sentenced 14 months for wearing 'seditious' T-shirt
- Lebanon's Hezbollah in disarray after second wave of deadly blasts
- Meta and Spotify blast EU decisions on AI
- Hasan takes three as Bangladesh rattle India in first Test
- Two killed during police operation in New Caledonia
- Flood-hit region leaders to meet in Poland to discuss EU aid
- Sri Lanka to vote in first poll since economic collapse
- Hong Kong probe finds Cathay Airbus defect could cause 'extensive' damage
- AI development cannot be left to market whim, UN experts warn
- All Blacks primed for 'hell' of a Wallabies clash
- Zoom fatigue? Try some nature in your background: study
- Japan walkie-talkie maker says investigating after Lebanon blasts
- Slipper to become most-capped Wallaby in All Blacks clash
- Tokyo surges on weak yen as Asian traders cheer big US rate cut
- Vast France building project sunk by sea level rise fears
- UK campaigners in green energy standoff reject 'nimby' label
- Rainbow warriors: Three things to watch at cycling world championships
CMSC | -0.18% | 25.01 | $ | |
BCC | 3.98% | 142.745 | $ | |
AZN | 0.58% | 79.035 | $ | |
SCS | -7.3% | 13.15 | $ | |
CMSD | 0.08% | 25 | $ | |
BP | 2.25% | 33.175 | $ | |
BTI | -0.53% | 37.68 | $ | |
NGG | -2.08% | 68.625 | $ | |
GSK | -1.05% | 41.99 | $ | |
RYCEF | 5.48% | 6.93 | $ | |
JRI | -0.45% | 13.38 | $ | |
BCE | -0.44% | 35.455 | $ | |
RBGPF | 5.79% | 60.5 | $ | |
VOD | -1.78% | 10.051 | $ | |
RIO | 3.84% | 65.425 | $ | |
RELX | 1.25% | 47.97 | $ |
Venezuelan opposition candidate says letter conceding election was coerced
Venezuela's opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia said Wednesday he had been coerced into signing a letter distributed by Venezuelan authorities in which he supposedly conceded election defeat to strongman President Nicolas Maduro.
In the letter, dated September 7 and addressed to parliamentary leader Jorge Rodriguez, Gonzalez Urrutia said "I respect" the regime-aligned CNE electoral council's proclamation of Maduro as the winner of the July 28 vote.
But on Wednesday, the 75-year-old retired diplomat published a message on X from Madrid, where he was given asylum after weeks in hiding in Venezuela, saying he was made to sign the letter in exchange for being allowed to leave.
Maduro aides brought him the letter at the Spanish embassy in Caracas and "I had to either sign it or deal with the consequences."
Gonzalez Urrutia added "there were very tense hours of coercion, blackmail and pressure. At that point I considered I could be of more use free than if I were imprisoned."
The letter, he said, was worthless as it was tainted by "coercion."
Within hours of polls closing, the CNE declared Maduro the victor with 52 percent of votes cast.
The opposition immediately cried foul and dozens of countries refused to recognize Maduro's claim to a third six-year term unless the CNE published a detailed vote breakdown, which it has not.
The United States has said there was "overwhelming evidence" that Gonzalez Urrutia had won.
The opposition presented its own figures based on polling station-level counts which it says proves Gonzalez Urrutia won by a landslide.
- 'Will not be silenced' -
Gonzalez Urrutia vowed on Wednesday that "as the president elected by millions and millions of Venezuelans who voted for change, democracy and peace, I will not be silenced."
He left for Spain under the cloud of an arrest warrant condemned by the international community for "serious crimes" related to his insistence that Maduro had stolen the vote.
Gonzalez Urrutia had ignored three successive summonses to appear before prosecutors investigating him for alleged crimes including "usurpation" of public functions, "forgery" of a public document, incitement to disobedience and sabotage.
The charges stem from the opposition's publication of voting results, which the government says only authorized institutions have the right to do.
The CNE has said it cannot publish the voting records as hackers had corrupted the data, though observers have said there was no evidence of such interference.
Gonzalez Urrutia replaced opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on the ballot at the last minute after she was barred from running by institutions loyal to the Maduro regime.
She, too, has been mostly in hiding since the vote, except for appearing at a handful of organized demonstrations.
Maduro has said both Gonzalez Urrutia and Machado belong "behind bars," blaming them for the deaths of 25 civilians and two soldiers in protests that broke out spontaneously after his alleged victory was announced.
Nearly 200 people were injured and more than 2,400 arrested.
Maduro has managed to cling to power despite sanctions stepped up after his 2018 reelection, also dismissed as a sham by dozens of countries.
X.Matos--PC