Caracas Chronicles

María Corina Machado was taken this afternoon after leaving an opposition rally in Chacao, Caracas. Armed men intercepted the motorcycle carrying her, forced her off, and detained both Machado and the driver.

Earlier in the day, Machado had made her first public appearance in months, joining opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa at the rally. Just days ago, she revealed she had instructed her team not to negotiate her release if detained, declaring, “no one should bargain Venezuela’s freedom.”

At the rally, Machado delivered a defiant speech to the crowd:

“The July 28 presidential election changed history forever. The regime has sunk; it has collapsed. This country has overcome fear, and the best proof of that is all of you here today. The only thing left for the regime is to sow fear.”

She went on to condemn the regime’s plans: “Whatever they do tomorrow [at the presidential inauguration], they will bury themselves. If they commit this crime against the constitution, they will seal their fate.”

Shortly after Machado and Guanipa departed, a caravan of pro-regime motorcyclists arrived at the rally site, prompting the crowd to disperse.

Protests have taken place in at least nine states. Human rights organization Provea reported that police forces and armed colectivos used tear gas against protesters in Maracaibo. Edison Castro, a journalist and professor from Zulia, was arrested earlier today and is currently being held at a National Guard facility.

Update

The moments after the news got out that Machado was taken by the government everything got even more confusing. Soon after, a clip of Machado saying she was okay started making the rounds. It was a strange video, Machado sitting on a sidewalk explaining that she had been followed but that now she was alright. That clip was not posted in a Machado camp account. It spread like wildfire organically, in seconds it was all over the conspiranoic family Whatsapp chats.

A couple of hours later, the Machado camp cleared the air:

After the protest she was intercepted violently and taken by Maduro security forces. Later they made her record a video saying she was okay and they let her go. There were a couple hints of the likelihood that this happened. Apart of confusing images that showed two different motorcycle drivers, everything pointed toward the video first being released by Minister of Communication Freddy Ñañez via his Telegram account. And as you can see in the image below, he was forwarding VP Delcy Rodríguez. So it is likely that this was first distributed in the chavista big wig group chat.