Machado’s bodyguards reported that shots were fired at her motorcycle convoy.
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was detained Thursday after she reappeared in public after several months and took part in a protest against President Nicolás Maduro. TASR informs about it according to the reports of the AFP and Reuters agencies.
Just a few minutes before the information about her detention was announced on the X network, Machado’s bodyguards announced that the opposition leader was “forcefully stopped while leaving the rally” and that her motorcycle convoy was fired upon.
Machado was last seen in public in August 2024. On Thursday, she walked the streets of Caracas with the Venezuelan flag in protest against Maduro’s ascension to the presidency.
“Today, all of Venezuela took to the streets! We are not afraid!,” the opposition leader told thousands of demonstrators. She called on opposition supporters to come “in millions” and thus put pressure on Maduro to hand over power to opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia. The opposition claims that the winner of the presidential election is its candidate, who is currently in exile in Spain.
Maduro rejected pressure from the protesters
In addition to the anti-government protest, supporters of Maduro also gathered in Caracas, vowing to prevent any attempt to thwart his return from the presidency.
The gatherings of supporters and opponents of the current regime caused – according to AFP – fears of violence like the presidential election, which claimed 28 victims and hundreds of injured. The police detained thousands of people at that time.
“Soon we will see you in Caracas, in freedom,” Urrutia told his compatriots in an address.
Maduro has rejected pressure from protesters and the opposition, warning that security forces will crack down on “fascists” who try to prevent his inauguration on Friday, January 10.
