The leader of the opposition Venezuela arrested a day before the inauguration of Maduro | Nicolas Maduro News

The leader of the opposition Venezuela Maria Corina Machado he was arrested after reappearing in public for the first time in months a day before the third inauguration of President Nicolas Maduro.

A social media account for Comando Con Venezuela, the opposition political group Machado leads, reported the arrest on Thursday.

“María Corina Machado was violently intercepted while leaving the meeting in Chacao,” wrote the opposition group, adding that government forces “shot” at the motorcycles that were transporting her.

He has since announced Machado’s release, dismissing reports that the brief detention was false.

Maduro’s government quickly denounced the incident as an effort to dent the administration’s reputation.

“The tactic of media distraction is not new, so no one should be surprised. They come from the fascists who are the architects of the deception,” the Minister of Information Freddy Nanez said on the social networking platform Telegram after reports of Machado’s arrest emerged.

⚠️⚠️⚠️ María Corina (@MariaCorinaYA) was violently intercepted while leaving the concentration in Chacao.

We hope to confirm your location within minutes.

Regime troops shot at the motorcycles that were transporting her.

— ConVzla Command (@ConVzlaComando) January 9, 2025

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

But he made a public appearance on Thursday, after calling on supporters to protest in a last-ditch attempt to block Venezuelan President Maduro from taking power. He will be sworn in for another six-year term on Friday.

“They wanted to fight us, but Venezuela is united,” Machado, waving a Venezuelan flag, shouted to a few hundred protesters from atop a truck before his arrest.

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

Waves of anti-government protests erupted after the July 28 election, when electoral authorities declared Maduro the winner without publishing the usual vote tally.

The opposition called the result fraudulent and instead published their own copies of the vote tallies online. He says that the documentation proves his candidacy, Edmundo Gonzalezis the rightful winner.

Maduro’s government has responded to the protest with what critics have denounced as a harsh crackdown. More than 2,000 people were arrested and around 25 people were killed in the post-election crackdown.

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

“There is fear”

Reporting from an anti-Maduro rally in neighboring Colombia on Thursday afternoon, Al Jazeera’s Alessandro Rampietti said Machado had defied previous threats and attempts to arrest him.

“The government has repeatedly promised to arrest her if she tries to attend any of these demonstrations,” Rampietti said. He added that Machado has been in hiding since August after the Maduro government began its crackdown on the opposition 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 said.

But there was a relatively small turnout for Thursday’s protests 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 wearing riot shields emerged from motorcycles. “There is fear.”

Gonzalez himself run away in Spain in September to seek political asylum. But he has since returned to the Americas, 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 before the inauguration.

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

“As president-elect, we ask for the immediate release of María Corina Machado,” he he wrote on social media. “To the security forces that kidnapped him, I say: Don’t play with fire.”