Venezuelan opposition claims María Corina Machado was arrested by Nicolás Maduro’s goverment

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado was detained on Thursday in Caracas by agents of Nicolás Maduro’s regime. Machado’s caravan was reportedly “violently intercepted” and fired upon, according to her team, as she participated in a rally organized by opposition forces in the capital. “We are not afraid,” the veteran leader declared earlier in the day in a heavily militarized city, where tensions have escalated under what many describe as a de facto siege. Her team later announced that Corina Machado had been freed.

The opposition organized a protest against the Maduro regime on Thursday, one day before the presidential inauguration. Maduro claims he won the July 28 presidential election, but Venezuela’s National Electoral Council (CNE) — led by one of Maduro’s allies — has not released the paper tallies to certify the results. The opposition, however, claims its candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, won a comfortable victory, 67% to 30%, based on the voter tallies verified by international organizations.

On Thursday morning, Corina Machado emerged from hiding to join demonstrations in Chacao, in the metropolitan area of Caracas, defying the threats of arrest repeatedly made by the Venezuelan president and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello. At the march, Corina Machado warned the ruling party to respect the results of the July 28 elections. “What they do tomorrow will seal the regime’s fate. If they commit this crime against the constitution and popular sovereignty, they will be sentencing their destiny,” she said.

Following her arrest, Gonzalez Urrutia quickly took to social media to condemn the actions by the Chavista authorities. “As the elected president, I demand the immediate release of María Corina Machado,” González Urrutia wrote on his X account. He added a stern warning to the security forces involved in her arrest: “Do not play with fire.”

Former Colombian president Iván Duque also denounced the detention of Corina Machado, calling it a “kidnapping” and demanding the immediate intervention of the International Criminal Court. “The international community must seriously contemplate a humanitarian intervention to reestablish democratic order,” Duque stated in a video shared on his social media. During his presidency (2018–2022), Duque was a vocal critic of Maduro.

The global response to Venezuela’s ongoing crisis was evident on Thursday, as major cities including New York, Madrid, Buenos Aires, and Brussels also saw demonstrations in solidarity with the opposition. Gonzalez Urrutia fled to Spain in September to evade persecution by Maduro’s government, but last weekend began a tour of the Americas in a bid to build support ahead of January 10.

González Urrutia insists that he will be in Caracas on Friday to be sworn in. The Maduro regime says it will arrest him as soon as he sets foot on Venezuelan soil, just like the former Latin American presidents who want to accompany him.

The Chavistas have deployed all its capacity for repression and intimidation. González Urrutia’s son-in-law was arrested early on Tuesday, and just hours later drones began flying over the house of Corina Machado’s mother, who was left without electricity due to power cuts in that area.

Hooded agents were stationed at the door of the homes of dissidents and critics, and throughout the country opponents were arrested in a number yet to be determined. In some neighborhoods of Caracas, residents protested by banging pots and pans from their balconies. Maduro said that seven foreigners had been arrested, describing them as “mercenaries,” and adding to the 125 individuals detained by the Chavista authorities in recent days.

In this new political crisis, Maduro has surrounded himself with his most loyal and radical supporters, those who would have no problem facing an international trial. Maduro himself has said that he is willing to die before stepping aside and believes that he must remain in office “by the will of God,” as if he had received a divine mandate.

Key international powers, including the United States and the European Union, have already announced they will not recognize Maduro as Venezuela’s legitimate president. The political crisis continues to deepen, with no clear resolution in sight.

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