Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Colina Machado waves a national flag during an opposition-called protest on the eve of the presidential inauguration in Caracas on January 9, 2025.
Juan Barreto | AFP | Getty Images
Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado has been arrested, online broadcaster VPI TV said on Thursday, citing opposition operative Magalli Meda.
The opposition said on social media on Thursday that Machado was “violently stopped” during the march, her first public appearance in months.
The opposition is staging protests across the country to put last-minute pressure on President Nicolas Maduro, a day before he is sworn in for a third six-year term.
Opposition
The opposition and ruling parties have been locked in an ongoing dispute over last year’s presidential election, which both sides claimed they had won.
The country’s electoral authorities and the Supreme Court say Maduro won the July vote but have never released a detailed vote count despite a severe economic and social crisis during his time in office.
The government accused the opposition of fomenting a fascist plot against it and said it would arrest opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez if he returned to the country, detaining prominent opposition members and events ahead of the inauguration person.
