Rio de Janeiro, Jan 9, (dpa/GNA) – Venezuelan opposition leader, María Corina Machado, was abducted following a protest rally after her first public appearance in months, according to opposition candidate Edmundo González.
“To the security forces who have abducted her, I say: Do not play with fire,” González wrote on X, demanding her immediate release.
Earlier, the opposition’s campaign platform announced that Machado had been forcibly intercepted.
Government officials allegedly fired at the motorcycles that were transporting her.
The opposition leader had just left a rally.
Machado had left her place of refuge for the first time in months and joined the protests she had called, in which thousands of people demonstrated against the planned inauguration of authoritarian President Nicolás Maduro.
“I am here, with you, and until the end,” she wrote on X. She has not appeared publicly since the election for security reasons.
People nationwide took to the streets shouting slogans like “Glory to the brave people,” images showed online.
After the presidential election in Venezuela in July, opposition candidate Edmundo González claimed victory,and is recognised as the winner by the US and several Latin American countries.
However, the nation’s electoral authority declared the winner to be Maduro, who has been in power for almost 12 years. He is due to be sworn in on Friday.
González left for Spain in early September, where he applied for political asylum. However, he recently announced his plan to return to his homeland and also, be sworn in as the president of the South American country on Friday.
A warrant for his arrest remains in force in Venezuela.
GNA