María Corina Machado has emerged from anonymity this Thursday in Caracas, reclaiming the spotlight after four months of hiding from the persecution of the chavista regime. The opposition leader led a massive protest against the purported investiture of Nicolás Maduro, which, according to the opposition, proclaims him president without legitimacy for not presenting electoral records. The day was marked by confusing incidents, including his temporary detention by the security forces who interrupted the motorcycle ride he was on with gunfire, stopping it momentarily before it was released. The accounts of what happened are contradictory, because while a senior official denies that detention, human rights representatives and their team confirm that Machado was forced to record videos during her detention.
The atmosphere in Caracas remains tense a few hours before Maduro's controversial swearing-in, with the opposition led by Edmundo González, who claims the electoral victory, and denounces the government's maneuvers. Chavismo has increased police and military presence in the capital and strengthened the country's borders, as a preventive measure against possible opposition movements. This context of uncertainty is amplified by pronouncements at the international level that condemn the actions of the Venezuelan government. Figures such as the Colombian former presidents Álvaro Uribe and Iván Duque, and the President of Panama, José Raúl Mulino, have called for the release of Machado and denounced the 'kidnapping' as an attack on democratic rights, even calling for the intervention of the International Criminal Court. The fallout from the political dispute intensified by these events reflects a country on edge, laden with internal and external tensions in a complex web that still seeks resolution.
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