Venezuela's opposition leader Machado briefly detained

Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado's team and Venezuelan media report that Machado was arrested in Caracas on Thursday. 

Sought for arrest and largely in hiding, she had made her first public appearance in months in Caracas, to lead a protest against President Nicolas Maduro being sworn in for a third term.

The opposition said on social media that Machado was "violently intercepted on exiting the rally," also claiming that shots had been fired at her motorcycle convoy.

However, in a message on X later, Machado said that she was "in a safe place and with more determination than ever to continue by your side UNTIL THE END!"

She also promised to provide more information on Friday about "what happened today and what is to come."

Wanted by Venezuelan law enforcement even before the contested July 2024 elections, in which she was not allowed to run, Machado had not appeared publicly since the height of post-election protests in August.

The opposition was holding a series of eleventh-hour protests around Venezuela on the eve of Maduro's swearing-in, scheduled for Friday. 

Information minister disputes reports

Venezuela's Information Minister Freddy Nanez was the first government official to respond, calling the reports a "media distraction." 

"The tactic of media distraction is not new, so no one should be surprised," Nanez wrote on Telegram. "Less so coming from fascists who are the architects of deception. A few minutes ago, the right sold the idea that [Machado] had been attacked and detained by 'regime motorcyclists'."

Meanwhile, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello called the opposition's account "a lie." "If there were a decision to detain her, she would be detained," he said.

Spain, exiled opposition presidential candidate condemn arrest

Edmundo Gonzalez, who ran for president in July and fled to Spain soon after authorities issued an arrest warrant against him after the vote, called for Machado's release online. 

"As president-elect, I demand the immediate release of Maria Corina Machado," Gonzalez wrote. "To the security forces that kidnapped her, I say: don't play with fire."

Gonzalez and the opposition say that they were the rightful winners in July, and have released partial voter records that they say demonstrate the official results cannot be correct.

Maduro's ruling party and the Venezuelan courts have rejected this argument, although Spain, the European Parliament, the US and others have recognized Gonzalez as the "rightful" election winner and president-elect, if not as the de facto president.

Spain's Foreign Ministry also issued a statement voicing its "total condemnation" of Machado's arrest. 

"The physical integrity and freedom of expression and demonstration of all, especially that of opposition political leaders, must be protected and safeguarded," the ministry in Madrid said.

msh/ab (AFP, Reuters)