Edmundo González reveals that he signed under duress a letter distributed by Chavismo

After the president of the National Assembly, Jorge Rodríguez, showed this Wednesday a Letter signed by Edmundo González Urrutia, in which he says he abides by the decision of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ) on the alleged victory of Nicolás Maduro in the elections of July 28, The standard-bearer of the majority opposition revealed that the document was signed under duress in order to be able to leave the country.

In a video posted on social media, González Urrutia said that while he was at the residence of the Spanish ambassador, Jorge Rodríguez and the vice president of the Republic, Delcy Rodríguez, they showed up with a document that he had to endorse so that he could leave the country.

“In other words, I either signed it or I would face the consequences,” the opponent said.

He continued: «There were very tense hours of coercion, blackmail and pressure. At that moment I considered that I could be more useful free than locked up and unable to fulfill the tasks entrusted to me by the sovereign.

González Urrutia acknowledged that he finally had to sign the letter, but clarified that “a document produced under duress is vitiated by absolute nullity, due to a serious defect in consent.”

“As the elected president of millions and millions of Venezuelans who voted for change, democracy and peace, I will not be silenced. I will never betray them. Each and every person I have spoken to so far knows this,” he said.

He said that the publication of the document by Chavismo is nothing more than part of a “dirty game, blackmail and manipulation.”

“The international community continues to increase its support for the sovereign will of the Venezuelan people. What they should be disclosing are the minutes of the vote. The truth is what it is and it is in the minutes that you are trying to hide. You are not going to silence a country that has already spoken. Millions of Venezuelans have the will for change and I am going to fulfill that mandate,” he concluded.

#Release to Venezuelans to inform them of the whole truth of what happened with my departure from Venezuela pic.twitter.com/SULvChfo9n

— Edmundo González (@EdmundoGU) September 18, 2024

What does the document signed by Edmundo González say?

“I have always been and will continue to be willing to recognize and abide by the decisions taken by the organs of Justice, including the aforementioned ruling by the Electoral Chamber (which validated Maduro’s victory at the polls), which although I do not agree with, I abide by,” says the letter, which was shown by Rodríguez, who highlighted the Democrat’s “voluntary” signature.

The president of the Legislative Assembly stressed that this letter was written voluntarily and that there was no “situation in which Mr. Edmundo González Urrutia could feel violated.”

However, the opposition lawyer, José Vicente Haro, had already denied on September 8, in the face of growing rumors on social networks and various media outlets, that his client had signed any document in which he recognized Maduro as president-elect, as the National Electoral Council announced on election night, or the subsequent verification by the Supreme Court.