Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez said he was forced to accept Nicolas Maduro as the victor in July's disputed presidential election to get out of the Spanish Embassy in Caracas and escape from the country.

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,

Edmundo González said the government made him sign a document recognizing President Nicolás Maduro as the election winner before he could flee to Spain.