After her public appearance, the government denies the arrest of the Venezuelan opposition leader

Venezuelan opposition figure Maria Corina Machado, whose team had denounced her arrest following a demonstration against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, was released in a story the government described as a “lie” denying the opposition leader’s arrest.
While Machado’s team indicated that the latter “will address the country to explain the facts,” Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello spoke of “fabrication and lies.”

What happened?

Venezuelan security forces arrested Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Thursday after intercepting her motorcycle convoy as she was leaving an anti-government demonstration in Caracas, her aides said.
The German News Agency (DPA) quoted the opposition candidate for the Venezuelan presidential elections, Edmundo Gonzalez, as saying that Machado was kidnapped following a protest demonstration after her first public appearance in months.

Leader of the Venezuelan opposition

Gonzalez continued, in a post on the X platform: “I say to the security forces that kidnapped her: Do not play with fire,” demanding her immediate release. Gonzalez left Venezuela for Spain in early September, where he applied for political asylum.
But he recently announced his intention to return to his homeland and take the constitutional oath as president of the South American country today, Friday, according to the German News Agency (DPA). An arrest warrant issued against him is still valid in Venezuela.

Demonstrations in Venezuela

Machado’s press team said in a post on social media that security forces “violently intercepted” the convoy as it left eastern Caracas. There were no immediate details about her whereabouts, and the Maduro government has not yet commented on this matter.
But her sudden arrest sparked calls for her immediate release across Latin America, including from the president of Panama. “Will the United Nations be capable enough to take action to save Maria Corina Machado?” former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe said in a post on social media.

Maduro’s inauguration

The demonstrations, called for by Machado, came one day before Maduro was scheduled to be inaugurated in the ruling party’s National Assembly for a third six-year term despite credible evidence that he lost the presidential election.
There was a relatively limited turnout for the demonstrations that took place on Thursday, as riot police were deployed heavily, and under the circumstances, Venezuelans who have watched Maduro’s security forces arrest dozens of opponents and ordinary bystanders since the July elections were reluctant to gather in the same numbers as they had previously. .