Venezuela’s opposition leader María Corina Machado has been freed after being “intercepted” and knocked off the motorbike she was riding as she left a rally on Thursday afternoon, her campaign has reported.

In an X post, Machado’s campaign said she was forcibly detained in an altercation during which shots were fired. A previous post stated that members of “the regime” had fired at her motorbike.

“During the period of her kidnapping, she was forced to record several videos and then freed. Over the coming hours she will address the country to explain the events,” the post read.

The Venezuelan government’s communications ministry published a video that purportedly showed Machado, saying: “I’m well, I’m safe, today is January 9, we were leaving a marvellous gathering, I was followed, my handbag fell, my little blue handbag where I keep my belongings fell in the street, I’m fine already, I’m safe, and Venezuela will be free.”

The video showed Machado sitting, clutching a bottle of water, and wearing a black jacket with the hood pulled up, obscuring her hair and the upper part of her face.

Venezuela’s communications minister, Freddy Náñez, called reports of Machado’s detention “fake” in an Instagram post together with the video and a photo that appeared to show Machado on the back of a motorcycle, speaking to police. 

“A few minutes ago, the right sold the idea that MCM [Machado] had been attacked by ‘motorized [officers] of the Regime.’ And when the hoax fell through, they themselves came out to retract it.” 

Machado had just spoken at the event, ahead of the re-inauguration of President Nicolás Maduro. Maduro controversially claimed victory in Venezuela’s elections in July. However, he never provided data to support his claim.

Machado and Edmundo González Urrutia, who ran against Maduro in July, say that a parallel vote count showed González was the real victor of July’s elections. The disputed ballot was followed by a wave of protests and violent crackdowns by the security forces.

Detention and regional outrage

Reports of Machado’s detention spread instantly, triggering condemnation from regional leaders and rights defenders, before her release was announced. 

“As president-elect, I demand the immediate liberation of María Corina Machado,” González wrote on X. “To all the security officers who kidnapped her, I say: don’t play with fire.”

The communications team of Argentina’s President Javier Milei said in a statement that it expressed “extreme concern” for the “criminal attack of the Chavista regime against the democratic leader Maria Corina Machado.” It described the operation in which she was allegedly detained as “worthy of the worst dictatorships in history.”

President Javier Milei met with Gonzalez at the Casa Rosada on Saturday, describing him as Venezuela’s “president-elect.” 

Former Argentine President Mauricio Macri posted on X: “Maria Corina, we won’t abandon you. Venezuela will be free!”

Panamanian President José Raúl Mulino called for her immediate liberation and respect for her personal integrity. “The dictatorial regime is responsible for her life!” he wrote on X.