Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s allies said she was detained on Thursday, in a confusing episode that officials briefly denied, in a move to prevent President Nicolas Maduro from remaining in power. The day of protest is over.
It is unclear exactly what happened after Machado bid farewell to hundreds of supporters, mounted a motorcycle and sped off with his security convoy through the empty streets of eastern Caracas to an unknown destination.
At 3:21 pm local time, Machado’s press team said in a social media post that security forces had “violently stopped” his convoy. His aides later confirmed to The Associated Press that the opposition radical had been detained, and international condemnation followed, with leaders in Latin America and beyond demanding his release immediately.
But about an hour later, a 20-second video of Machado was posted online by a Maduro supporter in which the opposition leader said she was followed after leaving the rally and had her purse dropped. “I am good, I am safe,” Machado said in a hoarse voice, “Venezuela will be free.”
Thousands of Venezuelan opposition supporters take to the streets ahead of Maduro’s third inauguration
Her aides later said in a social media post that the video message providing proof of life was coerced, and that she was freed after recording it. She said she would provide details of her “kidnapping” later.
Meanwhile, Maduro supporters denied that he had been detained and cheered that government opponents were trying to spread fake news to create an international crisis. “No one should be surprised,” said Communications Minister Freddy Nanez. “Especially since it’s coming from the fascists, who were the architects of the dirty tricks.”
Earlier on Thursday, Machado addressed hundreds of supporters who had heeded his call to take to the streets a day before the ruling party-controlled National Assembly swore Maduro in for a third six-year term, saying Despite credible evidence that he had lost the presidential election.
“They wanted us to fight each other, but Venezuela is united, we are not afraid,” Machado shouted from atop a truck in the capital, minutes before being informed of his detention.
Machado, 57, is a hardline former lawmaker who stayed and fought against Maduro even after many of his colleagues in the opposition leadership fled, joining an exodus of some 7 million Venezuelans who have left their homeland in recent years. Is.
Loyalists who control the country’s judiciary banned him last year from fighting against Maduro. In a shrewd move, he endorsed an unknown outsider – retired diplomat Edmundo Gonzalez – who had defeated Maduro by a more than two-to-one margin, according to voting machine records collected by the opposition and validated by international observers. .
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado addresses supporters at a protest against President Nicolas Maduro in Caracas, Venezuela, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025, a day before he was inaugurated for a third term. (AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos)
González, using the title of president-elect recognized by the US and other countries, was among those who called for Machado’s release immediately after his shocking arrest.
“To the security forces, I warn you: do not play with fire,” he said in a social media post from the Dominican Republic, where he met President Luis Abinader and former leaders from across Latin America. Met a delegation of Presidents.
Relatively few people attended Thursday’s protests because riot police had been deployed. Venezuelans, who have seen Maduro’s security forces round up large numbers of opponents and regular spectators since the July election, were reluctant to turn out in the same numbers as in the past.
“Definitely, there are less people,” said empanada seller Miguel Contreras, as National Guard soldiers drove by on motorcycles carrying riot shields. “There’s fear.”
The protesters who arrived blocked the main road into an opposition stronghold. Many were senior citizens and dressed in red, yellow and blue, responding to Machado’s call to wear the colors of the Venezuelan flag. All rejected Maduro and said they would recognize González as the legitimate president of Venezuela.
Javier Corrales, a Latin America expert at Amherst College, said the deployment of security forces as well as pro-government armed groups, known as “coletivos,” to intimidate opponents reflects deep insecurity on Maduro’s part.
Since the elections, the government has arrested more than 2,000 people — including 10 Americans and other foreigners — it claims were plotting to oust Maduro and spread chaos in the oil-rich South American nation. Just this week, masked gunmen arrested a former presidential candidate, a prominent free speech activist, and even Gonzalez’s son-in-law while he was taking his young children to school.
“It’s an impressive display of strength, but it’s also a sign of weakness,” said Corrales, who co-authored the article “How Maduro Stole Venezuela’s Vote” in the Journal of Democracy this month.
“Maduro is safe in office, but he and his allies believe they are leading with a big lie and that they have no other way to justify what they are doing except relying on the military,” Corrales said. Not there.”
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, which also included government loyalists, declared Maduro the winner of the election. But unlike previous contests, officials did not provide any access to voting records or precinct-level results.
However, the opposition collected tally sheets from 85% of electronic voting machines and posted them online. They showed that its candidate, Gonzalez, had defeated Maduro by more than a two-to-one margin. Experts from the United Nations and the Atlanta-based Carter Center, invited by Maduro’s government to observe the election, have said the tally sheets published by the opposition are legitimate.
The US and other governments have also recognized González as the elected President of Venezuela. Even many of Maduro’s former leftist allies in Latin America are planning to skip Friday’s swearing-in ceremony.
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President Joe Biden met with Gonzalez at the White House this week, praising the previously unknown retired diplomat for “inspiring millions of people.”
“The Venezuelan people deserve a peaceful transfer of power to the true winner of their presidential election,” Biden said after the meeting.
