Venezuela’s opposition leader briefly arrested ahead of presidential inauguration ceremony 

Isabella Lapadula contributed to this article.

Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado was briefly detained while leaving an opposition rally on Thursday afternoon in Caracas. 

According to initial reports, armed men intercepted the motorcycle carrying her and detained Machado and her driver, which prompted shots to be fired.

Image Source: María Corina Machado via X.

On Thursday, Machado made her first public appearance after months spent in hiding, following the disputed July 2024 Venezuelan presidential elections. The January 2025 opposition rallies took place throughout the country to pressure Nicolás Maduro before his third presidential inauguration on Friday. 

Maduro’s third re-election is widely disputed, as the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) has failed to publish detailed precinct-level results. The opposition, led by Machado, claims to have obtained accurate voting records via poll watchers, which indicate Edmundo González Urrutia – the opposition’s stand-in candidate after Machado was banned from running – won the elections with 73% of the vote. 

The moments after Machado was detained were confusing. Shortly after the news of her detention broke, a clip of Machado claiming she was alright began circulating on pro-Maduro social media channels. 

However, Machado’s X account retweeted an alert, claiming that the leader had in fact been detained, and claimed that government officials fired their weapons against the motorcycles that transported and accompanied her.  

“Glory to the brave people”
Image Source: Vente Venezuela via X.

A couple of hours later, Machado’s Vente Venezuela party confirmed she had been freed, although they also claimed that she was forced to record several videos while in detention.  

“I am now in a safe place and feel more determined than ever to continue alongside you UNTIL THE END! Tomorrow I will tell you what happened today and what will come next. Venezuela will be FREE!” Machado stated on Thursday night, after being freed. 

“My heart is with the Venezuelan that was wounded by a bullet when the repressive forces of the regime detained me,” she added.

17 motorcycles, drones and bulletproof cars: Machado’s arrest

Early on-the-ground reports about the situation, shared on social media, claim that the driver of the motorcycle in which Machado was being transported was in fact wounded by a bullet fired by Venezuelan security forces. 

Other reports stated that her detention had been carried out with the help of 17 motorcycles, drones and bullet-proof Jeep cars by Maduro’s government. Latin America Reports wasn’t immediately able to verify these reports.   

Upon the news of his colleague’s detention, González Urrutia, who is recognized as Venezuela’s legitimate president by countries including Argentina, the United States and the European Union, demanded her immediate liberation. 

“To the security forces who kidnapped her I say: do not play with fire,” González Urrutia stated. 

María Corina Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia.
Image Source: Edmundo González via X.

The opposition leader also stressed that the fact that Machado had been released does not take away from the gravity of her detention, as “she was kidnapped under violent conditions.” 

The government, however, denied that Machado had ever been detained. For one, Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello claimed that the situation had been orchestrated by the opposition itself as a way of detracting public attention from a “disastrous protest.” 

“That woman was fanning herself at home. I guarantee that if we decided to arrest her, she would already be arrested,” Cabello stated. 

Similarly, Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab accused Machado of orchestrating a “psychological operation.” In this, he also clarified that although Machado is being investigated for treason, conspiracy with foreign powers and criminal association, no order had been established to detain her. 

International reactions

Internationally, however, world leaders reacted to news of Machado’s brief detention. As per Reuters, the White House National Security Council spokesperson called for freedom in Venezuela, asking Maduro’s representatives to stop harassing the opposition. United States president-elect Donald Trump also spoke on the incident. 

“The great Venezuelan American community in the United States overwhelmingly supports a free Venezuela, and [are] strongly supported by me. These freedom fighters should not be harmed, and must stay safe and alive!” Trump stated. 

The Colombian Foreign Ministry also demanded that Venezuela cease its systemic harassment of the opposition’s leaders, while the sentiment was echoed by the governments of Argentina and Panama, where González traveled to during his January Latin America diplomatic tour. 

As the news unfolded, Vente Venezuela’s human rights committee denounced that Julio Balza, the journalist who first broke the news of Machado’s detention and release, went missing around 4:00 pm on the same day of the arrest. 

Julio Balza.
Image Source: Vente Venezuela via X.

Social media posts from his friends and family have claimed that Balza was arrested by the State’s intelligence police, known as the SEBIN. His whereabouts and condition remain unknown.