Opposition leader María Corina Machado was released this Thursday after being violently detained in Chacao, a municipality in the metropolitan area of Caracas, after participating in a demonstration in support of the opposition candidate Edmundo González.
According to a statement from her campaign team, Machado was “intercepted and knocked off the motorcycle she was traveling on” by security forces. During the event, gunshots were heard and the opponent was forced to record several videos while she was detained.
“Firearms detonated in the event. They took her away by force. During the period of her kidnapping, she was forced to record several videos and then she was released,” her team said in a message posted on social networks.
The incident occurred during a protest organized by the opposition to pressure the government of Nicolás Maduro, who is preparing to assume his third presidential term this Friday.
Machado’s arrest was initially denied by senior government officials, such as the Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello, who described the fact as “a lie fabricated by the opposition.” However, witnesses and members of the Vente Venezuela movement claim that the leader was “violently intercepted” while participating in a caravan in the east of Caracas.
Edmundo González, an ally of Machado and opposition leader, demanded his immediate release and denounced the repressive tactics of the Maduro regime. “This act demonstrates the regime’s fear of the voice of Venezuelans who demand democratic change,” said González.
The Government of Venezuela accuses Machado of attempting a “false flag” operation with his arrest
The Minister of Foreign Affairs of Venezuela, Yván Gil, accused the opposition leader María Corina Machado this Thursday of attempting “a false flag operation”, indirectly alluding to the arrest reported by her campaign team after participating in a demonstration on the outskirts from Caracas.
“Mrs. María Corina Machado attempted a false flag operation, mocking the right and international fascism, which immediately came out to lie as usual,” said the representative of Venezuelan diplomacy in a message on his official Telegram channel.
“The virulence of the reaction of governments and international extremist figures only points out the complicity between those who do not accept that the opposition is a complete failure, and act as always making a major fool of themselves,” added Gil, who recalls that Machado He has “several legal cases” open.
In the text, Gil slips that Machado’s arrest would have been false news spread by his campaign team, which beyond warning about the news has not provided more details about it. An alleged video of Machado admitting that she had not been arrested circulates on social networks.
In fact, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister has echoed this alleged video and has taken the opportunity to call what happened around Machado a “show.” “Who would think of putting on such a show to cover up the resounding failure of their call today?” he asked.
