Venezuela's opposition alleged Thursday that its leader María Corina Machado had been briefly abducted by state security agents and forced to record videos after leading a protest against President Nicolás Maduro in Caracas
Machado, 57. was freed after earlier being "taken away by force" by security agents, said the opposition.
The initial announcement by Machado's team that she had been "violently intercepted" while leaving a rally in Caracas on the eve of Maduro's inauguration for a contested third term caused widespread consternation.
Venezuelan government officials denied she had been arrested.
Machado had earlier energised the opposition by emerging from hiding to deliver a defiant speech to thousands of supporters in central Caracas, telling Maduro's regime: "We are not afraid."
“Everything we’ve built has prepared us for this final stage,” she told the crowd. “Have no doubt that tomorrow, whatever they do, marks the start of the end for the regime.”
Her fate was initially unclear but her team later reported on X that she had been released after being "forced to record several videos."
It said she was knocked off the motorbike on which she was travelling during the incident, that "shots were fired" and that she was "taken away by force."
'Don't play with fire'
Machado’s disappearance had caused an outcry among opposition supporters.
Exiled opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, who the opposition says won July's election against Maduro, called for her "immediate release" and warned the security forces not to "play with fire."
Machado's public appearance – her first in over four months – marked the climax of rallies held across the country over Maduro's refusal to cede power to González Urrutia.
US President-elect Donald Trump on Thursday defended the opposition as "freedom fighters" who must be protected in an intervention.
"Venezuelan democracy activist María Corina Machado and President-elect González are peacefully expressing the voices and the WILL of the Venezuelan people," Trump said on his platform Truth Social, calling for them to remain “safe and alive.”
Spain's Foreign Ministry also had condemned her reported detention.
Machado went into hiding shortly after the July 28 vote, after the security forces began cracking down on protests against Maduro's widely disputed victory claim.
She had urged opposition supporters to turn out in their "millions" to pressure Maduro to hand power to González Urrutia, who several countries, including the United States, see as Venezuela's legitimate president-elect.
But the crowds on Thursday were smaller than those that turned out to protest in the direct aftermath of Maduro's alleged power grab last July, with some people saying they feared renewed bloodshed.
Thousands of ruling party loyalists held a rival demonstration in central Caracas on Thursday, vowing to prevent any attempt to thwart Maduro's return to office.
US denies plot
The opposition says its tally of polling station results showed González Urrutia winning the election by a landslide.
"We will see each other very soon in Caracas, in freedom," the former diplomat told his countrymen Thursday in an address from the Dominican Republic, where he wrapped up a diplomatic tour aimed at compounding Maduro's international isolation.
Maduro has, however, swatted away the pressure and warned that "fascists" who try to prevent his inauguration would be severely dealt with.
He has accused the United States – long opposed to his rule – of plotting to overthrow him.
The Venezuelan leader, who counts on the backing of Russia and Cuba, the military, courts and electoral commission, has claimed that a senior FBI official was among a group of seven "mercenaries" arrested this week.
The US State Department denied US involvement in any coup plot.
Maduro has ruled Venezuela since 2013 and despite a sustained economic crisis that has pushed seven million citizens to emigrate, has shown no intention of relinquishing power.
Ahead of Thursday's protests, several activists and opposition figures, including Enrique Marquez, a press freedom activist and politician who ran against Maduro in July, were reportedly arrested.
Writing on X, United Nations rights chief Volker Turk said he was "deeply concerned" at reports of "arbitrary detentions and intimidation."
Turk also highlighted the arrest of the Espacio Publico press freedom NGO's director Carlos Correa, as well as "opposition members and their relatives."
'Wanted'
González Urrutia this week met outgoing US President Joe Biden as well as members of Trump's team.
He had at one point suggested flying back to Caracas to take power, without detailing his plan in the face of 'Wanted' posters circulated by the state putting a US$100,000-bounty on his head.
On Thursday he thanked Trump for his support.
"Thanks, President-elect Trump! Venezuelans know we can count on your determination regarding the Venezuelan cause," González Urrutia wrote on social media.
With neither the charisma nor the flush oil revenues of his mentor Hugo Chávez, Maduro is accused of relying on brute force to hold on to power and of driving the economy into the ground.
His last re-election, in 2018, was also marred by fraud allegations.
Attempts by Trump to force Maduro out during his first term as US president by recognising a parallel opposition-led government and imposing sanctions on Venezuela's oil sector, came to naught.
After Maduro claimed election victory in July's election, more than 2,400 people were arrested, while 28 were killed and about 200 injured in protests and riots.
– TIMES/AFP/BLOOMBERG
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