Opposition leader in Venezuela arrested a day before Maduro’s inauguration | News about Nicolas Maduro

Leader of the Venezuelan opposition Maria Corina Machado was arrested after he reappeared in public for the first time in months the day before the third inauguration President Nicolas Maduro.

The social media account for Comando Con Venezuela, a political opposition group led by Machado, reported the arrest on Thursday.

“María Corina Machado was violently intercepted as she was leaving a rally in Chacao,” the opposition group wrote, adding that government forces “shot” at the motorcycles transporting her.

⚠️⚠️⚠️ María Corina (@MariaCorinaYA) fue violentamente interceptada a su salida de la concentration en Chacao.

We hope to confirm en minutos su situación.

Efectivos del régimen dispararon contra las motos que la trasladaban.

— Comando ConVzla (@ConVzlaComando) January 9, 2025

Machado has been in hiding in recent months, following a government crackdown on dissent in the wake of the contested July 28 presidential election.

But she made a public appearance on Thursday, after calling on supporters to protest in a last-ditch effort to prevent Venezuelan President Maduro from taking power. He is scheduled to be sworn in for another six-year term on Friday.

“They wanted us to fight each other, but Venezuela is united,” Machado, waving a Venezuelan flag, shouted at several hundred protesters from a truck before being arrested.

Protesters at the rally shouted: “We are not afraid! We are not afraid!” Many also sang the Venezuelan national anthem as a sign of defiance against Maduro’s government.

Waves of anti-government protests erupted after the July 28 election, when the electoral authority declared Maduro the winner without releasing the usual analysis of the vote results.

The opposition called the results fake and instead posted their own copies of the voting results online. He says that the documentation proves his candidate, Edmundo Gonzalezhe is a real winner.

Maduro’s government responded to the protests with what critics denounced as harsh repression. More than 2,000 people were arrested and an estimated 25 people were killed in the post-election crackdown.

Maduro also accused Machado of leading a plot to overthrow him. In September, the court also issued a warrant for Gonzalez’s arrest.

‘There is fear’

Reporting from anti-Maduro protests in neighboring Colombia on Thursday afternoon, Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti said Machado had ignored previous threats and attempts to detain her.

“The government has repeatedly promised to arrest her if she tries to appear at one of these protests,” Rampietti said. He added that Machado has been in hiding since August after Maduro’s government began cracking down on opposition figures and protesters.

“She said she expects today’s protest to be historic and a way to show the world that the majority of Venezuelans want a democratic transition in the country,” Rampietti reported.

But Thursday’s protests saw a relatively small turnout as riot police were deployed in force.

“Of course, there are fewer people,” Miguel Contrera, an empanada vendor, told The Associated Press as National Guard soldiers with riot shields buzzed by on motorcycles. “There is fear.”

Gonzalez himself escaped to Spain in September to request political asylum. But he has since returned to America, where he has toured countries such as Argentina, Uruguay and the United States to strengthen his claim to victory.

He also promised to return to Venezuela. Maduro’s government announced a $100,000 reward for information on Gonzalez’s whereabouts ahead of the inauguration.

On Thursday, Gonzalez lent his voice to calls for Machado’s freedom.

“As the newly elected president, I demand the immediate release of María Corina Machado,” he said wrote on social networks. “I say to the security forces that kidnapped her: Don’t play with fire.”