Anti-Maduro demonstration in Venezuela: opposition leader arrested

In Caracas, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who came out of hiding on Thursday to participate in a demonstration against Nicolas Maduro, was arrested, according to an opposition source.

The president is due to be sworn in for a third term in the National Assembly on Friday at noon.

The authorities have massively deployed security forces in the country, particularly in the capital Caracas, swearing that the inauguration will take place in peace and the normality.

Dressed in white and waving a Venezuelan flag, Ms. Machado, who had not appeared in public since August 28, arrived at the demonstration aboard a truck, to cheers, in the upscale commercial district of Chacao.

All of Venezuela is on the streets, we are not afraid!launched the opponent accused of being a criminal by Maduro himself and who had sworn not to want miss this historic day for nothing in the world.

The several thousand supporters present, who had chanted this slogan during the morning while awaiting his arrival, immediately resumed in chorus.

I will leave my skin on the asphalt for my children, but it will be worth it, because Venezuela will be free! Long live free Venezuela!said Rafael Castillo, 70, who hopes to dislodge Maduro in power since 2013.

We will all see each other very soon in Caracas, in freedomlaunched from Santo Domingo the one that opponents consider to be the president-electEdmundo Gonzalez Urrutia. We, Venezuelans, are determined to persevere in this struggle until the endhe added.

The only elected president in this country is Nicolas Maduro, the people elected him and the people support himestimates Noeli Bolivar, 28, in the middle of Maduro supporters who brandished hundreds of Venezuelan flags during this march for peace.

Minutes that may have been hacked

The opposition claims the victory of its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia in the presidential election. She assures that the minutes of the polling stations that she collected prove that the former diplomat won the vote hands down – more than 67% of the votes – against a regime that knows it is beaten and completely isolated internationally.

The National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed the outgoing president the winner of the vote with 52% of the votes, but without publishing the minutes, claiming to be the victim of computer hacking. A hypothesis considered implausible by many observers.

The announcement of CNE had provoked spontaneous demonstrations throughout the country, which were harshly repressed. The post-election unrest resulted in 28 deaths, more than 200 injuries and 2,400 people arrested for terrorism.

Security forces have made numerous arrests in recent days: some 150 people, including an alleged official of the FBI (American federal police) and an American soldier, according to Mr. Maduro, who spoke of a assault funded by the United States.

Washington, which does not recognize Mr. Maduro’s victory, described it as categorically false any accusation of participation in a plot to overthrow Maduroaccording to a spokesperson for the US State Department.

Arrests within the opposition

While we learned of the arrest of Ms. Machado on Thursday, other arrests had occurred previously: those of Enrique Marquez, a figure in the Venezuelan opposition and spearhead of the legal battle against the contested re-election of Mr. Maduro, and that of the son-in-law of Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia. They are accused of being involved in this attempted putsch, according to Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello.

The respected Carlos Correa, director of a ONG renowned for defending human rights, was also arrested.

L’HIM said to herself deeply worried Thursday of the detention of political opponents and in particular that of Mr. Correa, wrote Volker Türk, the high commissioner of theHIM to human rights.

Exiled in Spain since September, Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia is concluding his tour in the Dominican Republic which notably took him to the White House.

He had planned to go to Caracas on Friday to take the oath of office in place of Mr. Maduro, a project considered improbable by observers.

The Venezuelan authorities, who put a price of $100,000 on the head of Mr. Gonzalez Urrutia, promised prison to anyone who accompanied him, saying they would react as if they were facing a force d’invasion.