The leader of the Venezuelan opposition María Corina Machado was detained and later released on Thursday afternoon in Caracas by alleged security agents of the government of Nicolás Maduro, after participating in a protest on the eve of the presidential inauguration. The government denied his arrest.
Machado “was violently intercepted” as she left the opposition rally in Chacao, in the center of the country, her political movement, Vente Venezuela, and the opposition’s electoral command reported after 3:00 p.m. local time. According to this information published in X, “regime members shot at the motorcycle that was carrying her.”
In a first statement from the Venezuelan government, the Minister of Information, Freddy Ñáñez, said that the information about the arrest of the opposition leader was a “media distraction.”
Shortly after, Vice President Delcy Rodríguez called her “unhinged” on her Telegram channel and accused her of “putting on such a show” to allegedly minimize “the resounding failure” of her call for protests in Venezuela on Thursday.
Diosdado Cabello, Minister of the Interior and first vice president of the ruling party, stated that the event reported by the opposition was “a lie.”
After government spokesmen denied her arrest, the opposition command assured after 5:00 p.m. local time that Machado “was forcibly taken away” and forced to record “several videos” before being released. They announced that she herself would explain the events within a few hours.
Reactions
After learning the information, Edmundo González, considered president-elect of Venezuela by several countries, including the United States, demanded Machado’s release. “To the security forces that kidnapped her I say: do not play with fire,” he said in a publication in X from the Dominican Republic, 1,800 kilometers from Caracas.
The White House assured that it is “closely following public information” about the leader’s detention and condemned “the arrests, repression and intimidation, which cannot hide the fact that Edmundo González Urrutia is the true winner of the elections of the July 28.”
The elected president of the United States himself, Donald Trump, demanded respect for the integrity of Machado and the “president-elect” Edmundo González. “These freedom fighters must not be harmed and MUST remain SAFE AND ALIVE!” he said through his social network Truth Social.
For his part, the president of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, who on Wednesday received González Urrutia as “elected president,” demanded the release of the opponent.
“Panama demands and demands the full freedom of María Corina Machado, as well as respect for her personal integrity. “The dictatorial regime is responsible for his life!” posted on his X account.
US lawmakers also made statements. Mario Díaz-Balart blamed to the Maduro government for the physical integrity and safety of the opposition leader and warned of “serious consequences,” while María Elvira Salazar said: “if you attack @MariaCorinaYA, “We, the United States, are going to attack you.”
Likewise, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Italy, Antonio Tajani, demanded the release of the opposition leader. “We can no longer tolerate the repressive and illegitimate actions of the Maduro regime that lost the elections. We are close to all citizens who fight for freedom and democracy in Venezuela,” he wrote in X.
Before the presidential inauguration
Machado’s arrest and subsequent release occurred on the eve of Nicolás Maduro’s swearing-in before the National Assembly for a third six-year presidential term, scheduled for Friday. The opposition denounces that the ruling party committed fraud in the July election and that its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, is the elected president of Venezuela.
González Urrutia is in the Dominican Republic promising to end his exile since September and return to the country to be sworn in as head of state.
Before his arrest, Machado, who reappeared in public after months of remaining underground, said in Chacao that this Friday the ruling party “will finish burying itself” and “this crime against the Constitution will be consummated.” He called on the people to be attentive to “all the signals” that the opposition will give in the coming days.
On Thursday, demonstrations were held in the main cities of the country called by the opposition leader and in which supporters of Maduro also demonstrated. Several of those concentrations were dispersed by the uniformed officers.
The Venezuelan government accuses Machado and González of leading, together with a group of foreign governments, a “fascist” plan to depose it from power, which would involve at least 125 “mercenaries” of 25 nationalities, already detained, according to their complaints.
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