CARACAS (Reuters) – Venezuelan opposition parties and NGOs decried the arrests of a prominent press freedom activist and a well-known opposition figure, among others, ahead of planned protests against Friday’s inauguration of President Nicolas Maduro for his third term.
The opposition Popular Will party said on X late on Tuesday that at least 19 people had been detained nationwide in what it termed a “worsening of persecution and repression” by the Maduro government.
Neither the Communications Ministry nor the attorney general’s office immediately responded to a request for comment about the latest arrests.
The government is investigating major opposition leaders for alleged conspiracy, among other charges, and has repeatedly accused them of inciting violence on their claims of victory in the July election.
The opposition has published ballot box-level tallies that it says show a resounding victory for its candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, who is now on a regional tour to promote the opposition’s cause and who is recognized by various countries, including the United States, as president-elect.
The electoral authority and Venezuela’s top count say Maduro won, but have not published detailed tallies.
Gonzalez said his son-in-law was kidnapped on Tuesday while taking his children to school.
The government, which has repeatedly accused the opposition of plotting with foreign governments to commit acts of sabotage and terrorism, said on Tuesday it had detained seven “mercenaries”, including two Americans. It did not provide further details.
About 2,000 people were arrested at post-election protests. The government said this week it has released 1,515 of them.
Politician Enrique Marquez, 61, who ran in the 2024 elections but backed Gonzalez as the victor, has been detained, the Popular Will party said on social media, without providing more details.
The director of press freedom NGO Espacio Publico, Carlos Correa, 60, was arrested on Tuesday afternoon by hooded officials, that group said on X.
The detentions of Marquez and Correa prevent his personal attendance at Maduro’s inauguration, President Gustavo Petro of neighboring Colombia said on X on Wednesday. Petro added that he would not break relations with Venezuela, with whom he has sought to increase trade.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was barred from running in the 2024 contest but remains highly popular, said on Tuesday she would attend opposition marches planned for Thursday, but did not specify where.
Machado, 57, is being investigated by the government in at least two cases of alleged conspiracy and has been in hiding since August. There is no public warrant for her arrest.
“I wouldn’t miss that day for anything,” she said in a virtual press conference. “Venezuela will be free, I can’t guarantee the day or the time. It might be before, during or after January 10, but it will happen.”
Gonzalez and Machado have repeatedly urged the police and military to support the opposition.
(Reporting by Vivian Sequera; Writing by Julia Symmes Cobb; Editing by Mark Heinrich)
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