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.

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,

Former Venezuelan opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González has fled into exile after being granted asylum in Spain, delivering a major blow to millions who placed their hopes in his upstart campaign to end two decades of single-party rule.