Venezuela pro-democracy figurehead Maria Corina Machado was briefly detained by security forces Thursday after emerging from months of hiding to lead a protest in Caracas, defiantly promising after her release that her country “will be FREE!”The 57-year-old engineer-turned-dissident appeared from among a throng of thousands of opposition supporters in the capital, climbing atop a pickup truck amid a massive police deployment.The protests were aimed at veteran leader Nicolas Maduro, due to be sworn in for a third six-year term on Friday despite a disputed election.He wishes to extend a quarter century of repressive military-backed rule that began with his larger-than-life mentor Hugo Chavez.”We are not afraid!” Machado told the rapt crowd, which turned out in smaller numbers than expected amid widespread fears of another bloody government crackdown.”From today we are in a new phase. Venezuela is free,” she insisted, before donning a dark jacket, an ink-black helmet and jumping on the back of a motorbike that spirted her away. What exactly happened next remains unclear. Supporters said that after leaving the rally Machado was “violently” apprehended and “taken away by force” by security agents. For almost an hour her team said little. Later they said she was knocked from the motorbike, “shots were fired” and she was “forced to record several videos” during a brief detention.In a message on X later, she thanked those who had come out in protest, and expressed sympathy for a Venezuelan she said was injured by a bullet “when I was detained by the regime’s repressive forces.””I am now in a safe place and with more determination than ever to continue by your side UNTIL THE END!” she added.She promised to provide more information Friday about “what happened today and what is to come.””Venezuela will be FREE!” she concluded.Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello called the opposition’s account “a lie,” and said that “if there were a decision to detain her, she would be detained.” “She’s crazy,” he said.At least 17 arrests were made at protests throughout the country, according to a post on X by Gonzalo Himiob, vice president of the NGO Foro Penal.Ahead of Thursday’s protests, several activists and opposition figures, including a politician who ran against Maduro in July, were reportedly arrested.- ‘Don’t play with fire’ -Machado’s brief disappearance caused outcry among opposition supporters and much of the international community.Exiled opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, who many believe to be the actual winner of July’s flawed election, warned the security forces not to “play with fire.”Nations from Ecuador to Spain condemned Machado’s reported detention and even US president-elect Donald Trump weighed in.”Venezuelan democracy activist Maria Corina Machado and President-elect Gonzalez are peacefully expressing the voices and the WILL of the Venezuelan people,” Trump said on his platform Truth Social.”These freedom fighters should not be harmed, and MUST stay SAFE and ALIVE!” he said, echoing his first term policy of “maximum pressure” against the authorities in Caracas.- US denies plot -Machado’s public appearance — her first in over four months — capped a day of rallies across the country over Maduro’s refusal to cede power.Machado went into hiding shortly after the July 28 vote, when the security forces began cracking down on protests against Maduro’s claim of victory.She had urged opposition supporters to turn out in their “millions” but the crowds on Thursday were smaller than those in the direct aftermath of Maduro’s alleged power grab.Thousands of ruling party loyalists held their own rival demonstrations in central Caracas on Thursday, showing the government retains the strong support of some.Maduro has accused the United States — long opposed to his rule — of plotting to overthrow him.The Venezuelan leader, who counts on the backing of Russia and Cuba, the military, courts and electoral commission, has claimed that a senior FBI official was among a group of seven “mercenaries” arrested this week.The US State Department denied US involvement in any coup plot.Maduro has ruled Venezuela since 2013 and despite a sustained economic crisis that has pushed seven million citizens to emigrate, has shown no signs of relinquishing power.With neither the charisma nor the flush oil revenues of his mentor Chavez, Maduro is accused of relying on brute force to hold on to power and of driving the economy into the ground.His last reelection, in 2018, was also marred by fraud allegations.burs/arb-mlr/jgc/bfm
Fri, 10 Jan 2025 03:58:25 GMT
