CARACAS, Venezuela—Venezuela opposition leader María Corina Machado’s aides said she was detained Thursday, followed moments later by official denials of her arrest, in a confusing episode that capped a day of protests seeking to block President Nicolás Maduro from clinging to power.
In recent years, the word kidnapping has been associated with the government practice of detaining real or perceived opponents without following the law. It’s seen as part of a campaign to repress anti-government protests that broke out after the election results were announced. “Nobody should be surprised,” Communications Minister Freddy Nanez said. “Especially since it’s coming from the fascists, who were the architects of the dirty trick.”
Loyalists who control the country’s judiciary banned her from running against Maduro last year. In a deft move, she backed an unknown outsider—retired diplomat Edmundo González—who crushed Maduro by a more than two-to-one margin, according to voting machine records collected by the opposition and validated by international observers.
There was a relatively small turnout for Thursday’s protests as riot police were deployed in force. Venezuelans who have witnessed Maduro’s security forces round up scores of opponents and regular bystanders since the July election were reluctant to turn out in large numbers as they have in the past.
Since the elections, the government has arrested more than 2,000 people—including as many as 10 Americans and other foreigners—who it claims have been plotting to oust Maduro and sow chaos in the oil rich South American nation. This week alone, masked gunmen arrested a former presidential candidate, a prominent free speech activist and even González’s son-in-law as he was taking his young children to school.
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