By Corina Pons
MADRID (Reuters) -Venezuela’s former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez said on Friday he sought diplomatic refuge after being warned President Nicolas Maduro’s security forces were “coming for you.”
Gonzalez, whom the opposition insist was the real winner of a July election awarded to Maduro, told Reuters during an interview in Madrid he could have been jailed and possibly tortured if he had stayed in Venezuela.
He left for Spain after securing guarantees that his family and property in Venezuela would be safe, the 75-year-old former diplomat said, adding that he wanted to be free to seek support from world leaders for his case to be president.
“A security official working with me took me aside to say he had received information that the security organs were coming for me and that it was best to take refuge,” he said.
“I could have gone into hiding, but I had to be free to be able to do what I am doing, transmitting to the world what is happening in Venezuela, making contacts with world leaders.”
A Venezuelan court had issued an arrest warrant for Gonzalez, accusing him of conspiracy and other crimes, after Maduro said the opposition was trying to topple him in a coup.
Gonzalez said he had already met senior Spanish political figures since his arrival on Sept. 8 and, having received invitations to visit Germany, the Netherlands and the European Commission, would conduct a tour of Europe.
He said he was confident that a peaceful handover of power was still possible in Venezuela, and he was still the person to lead it.
“I want to ensure that the will of the 8 million Venezuelans who voted for me on July 28th is respected,” he said.
“That is a decision that has already been taken and I aspire to honour it fully.”
(Reporting by Corina Rodriguez, writing by Aislinn Laing, editing by Andy Cawthorne)
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