Venezuelan Opposition Leader Machado Arrested After Rally

(MENAFN- Gulf Times) Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was arrested yesterday after coming out of hiding to lead a protest against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, a member of her entourage told AFP.
Minutes earlier, her team had reported on X that Machado, 57, was“violently intercepted upon exiting the rally”, and claimed shots had been fired at her motorcycle convoy.
Machado, who last appeared in public in August, arrived at the Caracas protest on the back of a van, waving a Venezuelan flag.
“Today all Venezuela took to the street! We are not afraid!” she told the thousands-strong crowd.
Her highly-anticipated appearance marked the climax of rallies held across the country on the eve of Maduro's swearing-in for a third consecutive six-year term after elections he is accused of having stolen.
Machado went into hiding shortly after the July 28 vote the opposition says its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia had won by a wide margin.
The opposition are protesting around the country in an eleventh-hour effort to put pressure on Maduro.
The opposition and the ruling party are locked in an ongoing dispute over last year's presidential election, which they both claim to have won.
The country's electoral authority and top court say Maduro, whose time in office has been marked by a deep economic and social crisis, won the July vote, though they have never published detailed tallies.
The government, who has accused the opposition of fomenting fascist plots against it, said it will arrest opposition leader Gonzalez Urrutia should he return to the country and has detained prominent opposition members and activists in the lead-up to the inauguration.
The opposition says Gonzalez, 75, won in a landslide.
It has published its own vote tallies as evidence, winning support from governments around the world, including the United States, which consider Gonzalez the president-elect.
Machado, who is the country's most popular opposition leader but who was barred from running in 2024, joined a protest in Chacao in eastern Caracas around 2.20pm local time (1820 GMT), dressed in a white shirt and blue jeans and waving a Venezuelan flag from the top of a truck.
“They lost the streets, which are ours, they are barricaded in Miraflores (presidential palace),” Machado told the crowd.“From today we are in a new phase.”
Machado, 57, urged protesters to peacefully flood the streets and repeatedly asked members of the police and military – who guarded polling stations during the election – to back Gonzalez's victory.
Maduro, 62, has been in power for more than a decade.
He has the vociferous support of leaders in the armed forces and the intelligence services, which are run by close allies of powerful Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.
“I am convinced nothing will happen,” Cabello said on state television on Monday.“But that doesn't mean we will lower our guard.”
Gonzalez Urrutia, who has been on a tour of the Americas this week and held a meeting with both US President Joe Biden and President-elect Donald Trump's national security adviser, has repeatedly pledged to return to Venezuela but has not provided details about how.
An arrest warrant was issued for Gonzalez for alleged conspiracy, prompting his September flight to Spain.
Machado is being investigated by the attorney-general in at least two cases, but no warrant for her has been made public.
The government has detained several high-profile politicians and activists, including a former presidential candidate.

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