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 had he stayed

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.

After the Maduro regime threatened González with arrest for alleged "terrorism," he was granted political asylum in Spain.

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.

A pair of prominent Senate Democrats said Friday they plan to introduce legislation targeting the "oppressive regime" of Venezuelan strongman Nicolás Maduro and his efforts to "steal" the July 28 election.