Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Colina Machado was detained during anti-government protests in Caracas on Thursday, a day before President Nicolas Maduro is expected to be sworn in for his third full term.
Machado, who was blocked from running for president by Maduro's government, is a key figure behind opposition candidate Ejimdo González Urrutia, who President Biden on Monday recognized as the true winner of July's election.
Mr. Machado's convoy was fired upon by gunmen on motorcycles and jeeps, and was backed by drones, according to multiple reports and social media posts from Venezuelan rebels.
The gunmen then detained Machado in what some local media and opposition leaders are calling a kidnapping.
Posted by Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-Florida). Warns Maduro about Xsaid, “If I attack.” [Machado]we the United States will attack you. ”
Machado's detention comes just days after González Urrutia sat with Biden in the Oval Office and received international assistance at the headquarters of the Organization of American States in Washington.
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