The Venezuelan opposition said that its leader, Maria Corina Machado, was briefly detained and then released after giving a speech at a protest march on the eve of President Nicolas Maduro's controversial inauguration.
The opposition said that Machado (57 years old) was “violently intercepted” in eastern Caracas and the convoy of motorcycles she was traveling in was shot at, adding that she was forced to record several video clips while she was detained.
Venezuelan Information Minister Freddy Nanez denied reports of Machado's arrest, calling them a “media distraction.”
Maduro, 62, was declared the winner of last July's presidential elections, but the opposition and many countries, including the United States, reject the result as fraudulent and recognize exiled opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez as the legitimate president-elect.
Gonzalez fled Venezuela in September and is living in Spain, but this month he went on a tour of the Americas to rally international support.
Maduro's government issued an arrest warrant against him, and offered a reward of $100,000 to anyone who provides information leading to his arrest.
Machado, who replaced Gonzalez on the ballot after she was barred from running herself, was also targeted. She went into hiding shortly after the disputed election and was last seen in public in August before Thursday's march.
Earlier today, the United Nations expressed its alarm after receiving reports of arbitrary arrests and intimidation in Venezuela ahead of opposition marches.
He highlighted the arrest of Carlos Correa, head of an NGO working to promote press freedom, who was detained by unidentified masked men earlier in the week.
Maduro's government has deployed thousands of police officers in Caracas, where the government-aligned National Assembly intends to swear in Maduro for a third term in office.
For its part, the opposition called on its supporters to come out in large numbers in an attempt to disrupt the ceremony.
In the city of Valencia, police fired tear gas at demonstrators, according to Reuters.
In western Caracas, 70-year-old Nigalos Payares told the news agency, “I'm not afraid. I lost my fear a long time ago.”
In the central Venezuelan city of Maracay, Ruiza Gomez told a Reuters reporter that she was “fighting for the vote I cast for Edmundo Gonzalez. They cannot steal the election.”
Maduro was declared the winner of the presidential election by the government-dominated National Electoral Council (CNE), but the CNE has to this day failed to provide detailed voting data to support this claim.
Earlier this month, Gonzalez met in Washington with US President Joe Biden, who said Venezuela deserves a “peaceful transfer of power.”
In Panama, Gonzalez deposited thousands of vote lists compiled by the opposition in the country's bank for safekeeping.
These statistics were the main evidence presented by the opposition to prove that it was Gonzalez, not Maduro, who won the election.
With the help of official election witnesses, they were able to collect 85% of the numbers and upload them to the Internet.
Independent observers and media organizations that have reviewed them say they show Gonzalez beating Maduro by a landslide.
