Venezuela’s opposition leader defies Maduro to lead protests that end in confusing arrest claims
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s aides said she was detained on Thursday, followed moments later by official denials of her arrest, in a confusing episode that capped a day of protests seeking to block President Nicolás Maduro from clinging to power.
It remained unclear what exactly happened after Machado bid farewell to hundreds of supporters, hopped on a motorcycle and raced with her security convoy down a main Caracas avenue.
At 3:21 p.m. local time, Machado’s press team said in a social media post that security forces “violently intercepted” her convoy. Her aides later told The Associated Press that she had been detained, and international condemnation poured in from leaders in Latin America and beyond, demanding her release.
But about an hour later, a proof-of-life, 20-second video of Machado emerged online in which she says she was followed after leaving the “wonderful” rally and had dropped her purse.
“I’m good, I’m safe,” Machado said in a raspy voice, adding “Venezuela will be free.”
Her aides later claimed in a social media post that the video message had been coerced, and that after recording it, she was freed. They said she would provide details of her “kidnapping” later.
The Associated Press was unable to contact Machado or confirm her whereabouts.
Meanwhile, Maduro’s supporters denied Machado had been detained, claiming that government opponents were trying to spread fake news to generate an international crisis.
“Nobody should be surprised,” Communications Minister Freddy Nanez said. “Especially since it’s coming from the fascists, who were the architects of the dirty trick.”
Earlier Thursday, Machado addressed hundreds of supporters who heeded her call to take to the streets a day before the ruling party-controlled National Assembly was scheduled to swear in Maduro to a third six-year term despite credible evidence that he 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 she was reported detained.
Machado, 57, is a hard-liner and former lawmaker who stayed and fought against Maduro even after many of her allies among opposition leaders went into exile in the face of repression, joining an exodus of more than 7.7 million Venezuelans who’ve abandoned their homeland since 2013.
Loyalists who control the country’s judiciary banned her from running against Maduro last year. In a deft move, she backed an unknown outsider — retired diplomat Edmundo González — who crushed Maduro by a more than two-to-one margin, according to voting machine records collected by the opposition and validated by international observers.
González, invoking the title of president-elect recognized by the United States and other countries, demanded her immediate release.
“To the security forces, I warn you: don’t play with fire,” he said in a social media post from the Dominican Republic, where he met with President Luis Abinader and a delegation of former presidents from across Latin America.
President-elect Donald Trump weighed in on Machado and Gonzalez’s efforts. “These freedom fighters should not be harmed, and MUST stay SAFE and ALIVE!” Trump said on Truth Social.
There was a relatively small turnout for Thursday’s protests as riot police were deployed in force. Venezuelans who have witnessed Maduro’s security forces round up scores of opponents and regular bystanders since the July election were reluctant to turn out in large numbers as they have in the past.
“Of course, there’s fewer people,” empanada vendor Miguel Contreras said as National Guard soldiers carrying riot shields buzzed by on motorcycles. “There’s fear.”
Demonstrators blocked a main avenue in one opposition stronghold. Many were senior citizens and dressed in red, yellow and blue, answering Machado’s call to wear the colors of the Venezuelan flag. All condemned Maduro and said they would recognize González as Venezuela’s legitimate president.
The deployment of security forces as well as pro-government armed groups known as “colectivos” to intimidate opponents betrays a deep insecurity on the part of Maduro, said Javier Corrales, a Latin America expert at Amherst College.
Since the elections, the government has arrested more than 2,000 people — including as many as 10 Americans and other foreigners — who it claims have been plotting to oust Maduro and sow chaos in the oil rich South American nation. This week alone, masked gunmen arrested a former presidential candidate, a prominent free speech activist and even González’s son-in-law as he was taking his young children to school.
“It’s an impressive show of force but it’s also a sign of weakness,” said Corrales, who co-authored this month an article, “How Maduro Stole Venezuela’s Vote,” in the Journal of Democracy.
“Maduro is safe in office,” said Corrales, “but he and his allies recognize they are moving forward with a big lie and have no other way to justify what they are doing except by relying on the military.”
Venezuela’s National Electoral Council, also stacked with government loyalists, declared Maduro the winner of the election. But unlike in previous contests, authorities did not provide any access to voting records or precinct-level results.
The opposition, however, collected tally sheets from 85% of electronic voting machines and posted them online. They showed that its candidate, González, had thrashed Maduro by a more than two-to-one margin. Experts from the United Nations and the Atlanta-based Carter Center, both invited by Maduro’s government to observe the election, have said the tally sheets published by the opposition are legitimate.
The U.S. and other governments have also recognized González as Venezuela’s president-elect. Even many of Maduro’s former leftist allies in Latin America plan to skip Friday’s swearing-in ceremony.
President Joe Biden, meeting González at the White House this week, praised the previously unknown retired diplomat for having “inspired millions.”
“The people of Venezuela deserve a peaceful transfer of power to the true winner of their presidential election,” Biden said following the meeting.
Goodman reported from Miami.
Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado arrested and released amid tense protest crackdown
MIAMI - Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was briefly detained Thursday after security forces intercepted her convoy as it departed an anti-government rally in Caracas.
According to her team, the motorcycle she was riding was forced off the road amidst gunfire and Machado was forcibly taken away.
During her detention, she was compelled to record several videos before being released.
President-elect Edmundo González Urrutia repudiated the kidnapping on X, saying, "Very serious! "That María Corina is free does not minimize the fact of what took place, she was kidnapped under violent conditions,"
Earlier in the day, Machado had emerged from months in hiding to lead protests against Nicolás Maduro's government.
Addressing a crowd of protesters shortly before her arrest, she declared, "They wanted us to fight each other, but Venezuela is united, we are not afraid."
Her dramatic detention has sparked outrage across Latin America, with calls for accountability.
Former Colombian President Álvaro Uribe questioned whether the United Nations would act to protect Machado. Meanwhile, Maduro's government has yet to comment on the incident.
The worldwide protests come on the eve of Maduro's swearing-in for a contested third term.
Machado and opposition groups have rejected the election results, presenting evidence that their candidate, Edmundo González, won by a landslide.
Machado's press team confirmed she would address the nation in the coming hours to recount the ordeal.
Here is what the opposition posted on social media: X post.
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado free after being ‘violently intercepted’, her team says
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado is now free after have been “intercepted” at a protest in Caracas on the eve of President Nicolas Maduro’s inauguration, according to her political team.
The politician is expected to address the country in the coming hours, her team Comando con Venezuela also said.
Machado’s political group wrote on X that she had been “violently intercepted” on Thursday while exiting the rally.
In a later update, her team posted that “during the period of her kidnapping she was forced to record several videos and was later released.”
Fear of repression in Venezuela has escalated in recent days as the inauguration date for Maduro’s third term approaches on Friday, following last year’s contested presidential election.
The Venezuelan government has denied detaining Machado, however.
Speaking at a pro-government protest, Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello accused the opposition of “lying that the government had captured Maria Corina” for publicity.
The country’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab accused Machado of creating “theatre to be victimized” and of attempting to carry out a “psychological operation to unleash acts of violence” ahead of Maduro’s inauguration.
“They have sought to darken - without achieving it - a day of joy for the Venezuelan people, like tomorrow, January 10,” Saab said in a statement shared with CNN.
Machado’s appearance at the rally was her first public appearance in months, since a government crackdown on Venezeulan opposition figures and their supporters following the vote. “I am here,” she posted on X earlier on Thursday, along with a video of herself at the protest, wearing jeans and the colors of the Venezuelan flag.
In video distributed by Reuters on Thursday afternoon, a figure purported to be Machado wades through a crowd of protesters in Caracas, wearing a black motorcycle helmet and jacket. The demonstrators jostle and follow the figure, some shouting “Viva Venezuela!”
From another angle, Reuters footage captures the same figure on the back of a motorbike, riding down a busy street in Caracas as demonstrators run in its wake
Asked what would happen if she were arrested earlier this week, Machado acknowledged the risk. “We’re taking one day at a time, Isa. I am quite conscious of my responsibilities. But also, we know that this is a cost that transcends every single one of us. So, we need to do this. I am going to be with our people tomorrow,” she told CNN’s Isa Soares.
Panama’s president José Raúl Mulino denounced Machado’s apparent detention on X soon after the news broke. “Panama demands full freedom of @MariaCorinaYA, as well as respect for her personal integrity,” Mulino wrote. “The dictatorial regime is responsible for her life!”
The US said it was “tracking very closely” the reports of Machado’s detainment. “We condemn such arrests, repression and intimidation, which cannot obscure the fact that Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia is the true winner of the July 28 elections,” the White House said in a statement.
After her release, US President-elect Donald Trump said Machado and opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez are “peacefully expressing the voices and the WILL of the Venezuelan people.”
“These freedom fighters should not be harmed, and MUST stay SAFE and ALIVE!,” Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social.
Rival groups of demonstrators gathered throughout Venezuela’s capital Caracas on the eve of the inauguration.
In several parts of Caracas on Thursday, crowds of opposition supporters slowly swelled with people waving flags and calling for libertad (freedom). Supporters were also seen holding “Gonzalez Presidente” signs and blowing vuvuzelas.
Reuters reports an estimated 7,000 participated in the opposition rally in Caracas.
Meanwhile in Venezuela’s largest barrio Petare, Maduro supporters also assembled in what they call a “march for peace and joy.”
Maduro was proclaimed winner of the presidential election in July by electoral authorities under the tight control of the ruling Socialist Party.
But Venezuela’s opposition, led by Machado, published thousands of voting tallies claiming that their own candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, had actually won the vote with 67% against Maduro’s 30%.
Independent observers such as the Carter Center and the Colombian Electoral Mission, as well as CNN’s own analysis, have since found the opposition tallies to be legitimate.
Gonzalez, who has vowed to return to Caracas this week despite the threat of arrest, started the day in the Dominican Republic where he met the Dominican President Luis Abinader and other regional former leaders.
“We Venezuelans will soon regain our freedom,” Gonzalez said in a speech in Santo Domingo.
This story has been updated with additional developments.
Global reactions to the brief detention of Venezuela opposition leader Machado
Jan 9 (Reuters) - The brief arrest of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado provoked swift condemnations on Thursday from political leaders across the globe, punctuated by calls for her right to free speech and personal safety.
Machado, a former lawmaker who has spearheaded the opposition to President Nicolas Maduro in recent years, was detained by security agents who shot at motorcycles she was using to leave a protest in Caracas, the capital, according to posts on social media from her party. She was freed about an hour later, according to the party.
The government's information minister labeled reports of Machado's detention a "media distraction," a day ahead of the bitterly contested inauguration of Maduro to a third term.
While the government has not released detailed vote tallies from last July's presidential election, the opposition has published thousands of scanned voting machine receipts its observers obtained, saying they show that its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, won the race in a landslide.
Following are some of the reactions that came in before and after Machado's release.
"We have and continue to condemn publicly Maduro and his representatives for attempting to intimidate Venezuela's democratic opposition. ... We call for the right of Maria Corina Machado to speak freely to be respected and for Maduro and his representatives to cease harassing the opposition."
"Venezuelan democracy activist Maria Corina Machado and President-elect Gonzalez are peacefully expressing the voices and the WILL of the Venezuelan people with hundreds of thousands of people demonstrating against the regime. ... These freedom fighters should not be harmed."
"The government of Colombia expresses its deep concern and rejection of the increase and severity of reports of human rights violations that are taking place in Venezuela in the run-up to the January 10 (presidential inauguration)."
"The kidnapping of Maria Corina by the Nicolas Maduro regime exposes the brutality of a dictatorship that has sown death and misery in its own country. In Ecuador, any politician who defends, justifies or remains silent ... becomes an accomplice to a system that has caused hunger, desperation and suffering to millions of people."
"The government of Chile expresses its strongest condemnation of the repression and continued violations of human rights that are taking place in Venezuela. It also rejects and expresses concern about the arrest of the opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado ... (and) demands that her safety, as well as that of other leaders in the democratic opposition, be guaranteed."
"The president's office expresses its extreme concern for the criminal attack by the Chavista regime against democratic leader Maria Corina Machado in Venezuela, as she attended a legitimate protest. ... In an operation worthy of the worst dictatorships in history, agents of the Maduro regime shot at her guards and violently kidnapped her in front of thousands of protesters."
"Panama expresses its protest and demand for the full freedom of (Maria Corina Machado) as well as for the respect of her personal safety. The dictatorial regime is responsible for her life!"
"We express our total condemnation and our concern. ... The physical integrity and freedom of expression and demonstration of all, especially that of opposition political leaders, must be protected and safeguarded."
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado: Europe is with us
Machado told Euronews in an exclusive interview what Brussels' support means to her and her compatriots after the European Parliament recognised Edmundo González as president-elect.
Venezuela opens investigation against opposition leader for alleged treason
Venezuelan authorities are investigating opposition leader Maria Corina Machado for alleged treason after she expressed support for a US bipartisan bill that seeks to block Washington from doing business with any entity that has commercial ties with the government of Venezuela’s President Nicolas Maduro.
In a statement, the country’s Attorney General’s Office said Machado’s support is considered a “terrible criminal act against the Venezuelan people.” Machado is also being investigated for conspiracy with foreign countries and association to commit a crime.
Machado - one of the country’s key opposition leaders - was banned from running in Venezuela’s July presidential election, which was marred with allegations of foul play that saw opposition figures arrested, opposition witnesses allegedly denied access to the centralized vote count, and overseas Venezuelans largely unable to cast ballots.
CNN has reached out to Machado’s team for comment.
The US bill – introduced by Florida Reps. Mike Waltz (R) and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D) – was passed on Monday by the House of Representatives.
Waltz, who President-elect Donald Trump has asked to serve as his national security adviser, wrote on X Wednesday that Machado “remains a beacon of hope for Venezuelans who rejected Maduro and his socialist authoritarianism” as he announced the bill.
“I’m proud the House passed my bill, the BOLIVAR Act, to block the federal government from doing business with anyone who has commercial ties to Maduro’s regime,” Walz wrote.
Machado, who’s in hiding, later thanked Waltz and the House of Representatives for approving the initiative.“It is a crucial step to hold the Maduro regime accountable,” she wrote on X on Wednesday.
During a televised event on Wednesday, Maduro criticized the bill and said that the opposition’s actions against him will not be successful.
Venezuela has been in a state of crisis in its aftermath when the nation’s electoral authority – a body stacked with Maduro allies – declared him the winner with 51% of the vote against candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.
Even after Venezuela’s electoral and judicial authorities announced Maduro’s victory, they have not shown detailed results and electoral records to support it, prompting anger and concern across the country and abroad.
Several countries, including the US, have formally recognized Gonzalez as the country’s president-elect following the disputed election.
Venezuela to allow safe passage to Argentina for Machado aides, government source says
CARACAS, April 5 (Reuters) - Venezuela's government will allow six aides of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado who are currently at the Argentine embassy in Caracas to travel safely to Argentina, a government source said on Friday.
The aides, including campaign manager Magalli Meda, previously tipped as a potential replacement for Machado in this year's presidential election, sought protection at the embassy in March after the attorney general's office announced warrants for their arrest.
"We have granted safe passage to those six people. We are waiting for Argentina to take them to Buenos Aires," the government source said. "The Venezuelan government has exceptionally allowed them to leave the country for humanitarian reasons."
While the aides will be allowed to leave, the criminal case against them will continue, the source added.
Venezuela's attorney general Tarek Saab said in March that two people close to Machado had been arrested, while seven other members of her team had warrants out for their detention. The arrests and warrants were for alleged involvement in planned conspiracies, Saab said.
Machado has denied any allegations of misconduct by her team.
She told journalists that safe passage for the aides was "being managed between the foreign ministries of Argentina and Venezuela," offering no further details.
Last week, the office of Argentine President Javier Milei said it was concerned about the persecution of political opposition leaders in Venezuela, shortly after Argentina confirmed the six people were at the embassy.
Argentine Foreign Minister Diana Mondino told an event on Friday that Milei's government was working to bring the six aides to Argentina.
"We're working on it, it's not so easy," Mondino said.
Venezuela's opposition is subsumed in internal negotiations about how to run a candidate in the July 28 election and who that candidate could be.
Machado, who resoundingly won the opposition primaries last October, cannot run because she is barred from holding public office, a decision she says is unfair. Machado named Corina Yoris as her successor, but the 80-year-old academic was also unable to register her candidacy.
Two opposition candidates were able to register and possible substitutes can be named until April 20.
At least six other people from Machado's team have been arrested since January.
