Venezuela’s popular opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was briefly arrested by rivals during an anti-government demonstration in Caracas on Thursday, a political aide in X said. But soon she was released.
Ms. Machado was “violently intercepted as she was leaving the rally,” her party told X. “Regime troops shot at the motorcycles carrying her.”
The country’s autocrat, Nicolas Maduro, is set to be sworn in for a third term as president on Friday.
Ms Machado has been living in hiding in Venezuela amid threats of arrest by government officials and this was her first public appearance since August. He had called for rallies across the country, and in cities around the world, to protest the inauguration of Mr. Maduro.
Thousands turned out to support Ms Machado at a rally in Caracas on Thursday, all at risk of government detention. There, the opposition leader stood on top of a truck while supporters chanted: “Freedom! Freedom! Freedom!”
In X, the political aide, Magalli Meda, said that as Ms. Machado was leaving the rally, her motorcycle was thrown at her.
“Firearms went off at the event,” Ms. Meda. “She was taken by force.”
During her brief detention, she was “forced to record several videos and was later released,” he added. “In the next few hours she will be the one who will address the country to explain what happened.”
Ms. Machado’s representatives declined to say who detained her. The event was packed with government security forces, often backed by members of armed gangs known as collectives.
Venezuela’s Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello, speaking in a televised interview, called the arrest a “lie” and accused the opposition of concocting it to gain attention.
The country’s opposition, as well as the United States and other countries, say Mr. Maduro had stolen recent elections and that the real winner was Edmundo González, a former diplomat who has the support of Mrs. Machado.
Mr. González has been living in exile since September.
Before her arrest, Ms. Machado told her fans: “This force that we have built and that grows every day has prepared us for this final phase.”
“Whatever they do tomorrow,” he said of Maduro’s inauguration, “they’re just buried!”
About 2,000 people have been detained in Venezuela since the July 28 election, including, in recent days, the son-in-law of Mr. Gonzalez, Rafael Tudares, as well as Carlos Correa, director of a high-profile non-profit organization, Espacio Público. .
