Venezuelan Maduro will take oath amid a protest for the election, the detention of the leader of the opposition Maria Corina Machado

Caracas – Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, was due to take the oath of office for a third term on Friday, despite a global outcry that brought thousands of people to protest on the eve of the ceremony. Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who came out of hiding to lead a demonstration in Caracas on Thursday, was briefly arrested after the demonstration, according to her team, reinforcing international condemnation of the alleged theft of the Maduro’s vote and the incubation of critics.

The government denied Machado’s arrest, but Maduro’s vocal critic was arrested by the security forces who intercepted him convoy after an anti-government demonstration in Caracas, his team said. Witnesses reported the fire while his motorcycle was forced off the road and was taken away by force.

Trump, other world leaders react to Machado’s detention

In a social media post, President-elect Donald Trump named Machado and Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia – the man who took his place on the ballot and is widely accepted to have beaten Maduro in the 28 July – as “freedom fighters”.

“They should not be harmed, and they MUST stay SAFE and ALIVE,” he wrote on his social network Verità.

During his first term, Trump tightened punitive measures against the Maduro government for anti-democratic actions. The sanctions were partially lifted, then reimposed, by his successor, President Biden, and may be toughened during Trump’s next term, which begins in just 10 days.

Ecuador denounced what it called Maduro’s “dictatorship,” while Spain expressed “total condemnation” of Machado’s detention, albeit brief.

Colombia, whose leftist President Gustavo Petro is historically an ally of Maduro, also condemned the “systematic harassment” of Machado, 57.

Italy’s right-wing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni on Friday denounced “another unacceptable act of repression” in Venezuela, without specifically mentioning Machado.

“The news coming from Venezuela represents another unacceptable act of repression by the Maduro regime, whose proclaimed electoral victory we do not recognize,” Meloni said in a statement. “We intend to continue working for a democratic and peaceful transition. The legitimate aspirations of freedom and democracy of the Venezuelan people must finally be realized.”

Citing “an international conspiracy to disturb the peace of Venezuelans,” Freddy Bernal, governor of the border state of Tachira, said the border with Colombia was closed on Friday and reopened on Monday.

The leader of the opposition challenged Machado: “We are not afraid”

Machado first gave a defiant speech to thousands of supporters in downtown Caracas, sending a message to the government that: “We are not afraid.”

There was also a demonstration in Paris attended by Machado’s daughter, Ana Corina Sosa, and dozens of supporters.

Opponents of the government have reported a new wave of repression ahead of Maduro’s swearing-in, including the arrest of another opposition presidential candidate, the head of a press freedom NGO and Gonzalez Urrutia’s son-in-law .

The UN raised the alarm this week at reports of arbitrary detention and intimidation.

More than 2,400 people have been arrested, 28 killed and around 200 injured in demonstrations that have challenged Maduro’s claim to an election victory last year. It has since maintained a fragile peace through massive military and police deployments and with the help of paramilitary “colectivos” — armed civilian volunteers charged with quelling protests through a neighborhood reign of terror.

Former diplomat Gonzalez Urrutia, 75, had expressed tentative plans to fly to Caracas this week to take power, but the plan is considered unlikely to go ahead.

“Wanted” posters offering a Government reward of $100,000 for their capture they were plastered all over Caracas.

Gonzalez Urrutia has been on an international tour trying to pressure Maduro, 62, to relinquish power. It included a stop in Washington to meet Mr. Biden, who called for a “peaceful transition back to democratic rule.”

Maduro has been in power since 2013, after the death of leftist Hugo Chavezhis political mentor. His re-election in 2018 was also widely dismissed as fraudulent, but he managed to cling to power through a mix of populism and repression, even as the economy imploded.

Maduro enjoys the support of Russia and Cuba, as well as a loyal military, judges and state institutions in a well-established political patronage system.

Thousands of ruling party loyalists held a rival rally in central Caracas on Thursday, vowing to prevent any attempt to block Maduro’s return to office.