Venezuela's former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez sought diplomatic refuge after being warned that President Nicolas Maduro's security forces were "coming for you", he told Reuters in Madrid on Friday.

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

Venezuelan ruler Nicolas Máduro attends a rally in Caracas on July ... licenses to U.S. company Chevron and other foreign companies to extract oil from Venezuela to deny Maduro resources and increase the consequences of staying in power.