A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro is set to be sworn in for his third consecutive term today despite accusations of stealing last year's election. Thousands of people protested in Caracas yesterday, including a charismatic opposition leader who'd been hiding for months. Manuel Rueda has that story.
(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)
MANUEL RUEDA, BYLINE: An ecstatic crowd chanted liberty as opposition leader Maria Corina Machado made her dramatic appearance. Machado had been in hiding since August after Maduro threatened to arrest her.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting in non-English language).
RUEDA: She spoke to the crowd from the back of a truck. Despite the heavy military presence, hundreds of people came to show their support for the opposition and its exiled candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez.
MARIA CORINA MACHADO: (Speaking Spanish).
(CHEERING)
RUEDA: "This regime is digging its own grave," Machado said. After delivering her speech, Machado quickly left the protest and melted into a large crowd in the company of her security guards. After that, confusion set in. Her party claimed she was arrested by masked men who shot at the group of motorcycles that transported Machado. Then about an hour later, Machado's party said she had been released.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
DIOSDADO CABELLO: (Non-English language spoken).
RUEDA: Venezuela's powerful interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, accused Machado of being a liar and denied he had ordered her arrest. The protests were small, he said, so they were trying to find a way to agitate their supporters.
UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTER: (Non-English language spoken).
RUEDA: Maduro supporters held a number of smaller counterrallies. The Socialist Party has a firm grip on the media, the courts and the electoral system.
(SOUNDBITE OF PROTEST)
RUEDA: Hundreds of people were arrested in large protests. And this week, at least 16 activists have been detained.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
EDMUNDO GONZALEZ: (Non-English language spoken).
RUEDA: While Maduro tries to shore up power in a country devastated by a crippled economy, the opposition's presidential candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, has been touring the continent trying to boost support for his cause. On Thursday, he met with Latin American leaders in the Dominican Republic, saying he would return to Venezuela very soon.
(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)
GONZALEZ: (Speaking Spanish).
(APPLAUSE)
RUEDA: But with a bounty on his head and an arrest warrant out for him, that may prove challenging.
(SOUNDBITE OF HORN HONKING)
RUEDA: Yesterday, Venezuelans also held protests against Maduro in several countries, including neighboring Colombia.
ALFREDO GOMEZ: It won't happen only with the people in the streets.
RUEDA: Alfredo Gomez joined a rally in Bogota.
GOMEZ: We need the militaries to be with the people this time. Once the corrupt government of Maduro knows that they don't have the power to suppress the people in Venezuela, they will run like rats.
RUEDA: Phil Gunson, a Venezuela analyst at the International Crisis Group, says that's unlikely to happen soon.
PHIL GUNSON: The people currently running the military aren't likely to ditch, you know, chavismo in general unless it's clear that there's a path out of this situation, which allows them to stay out of jail and maintain at least a part of the wealth that they've accumulated.
RUEDA: He said that opposition leaders need to gain the trust of military officers. The United States and the European Union continue to pressure Venezuela's leadership with economic sanctions, while many neighboring countries have refused to recognize Maduro's reelection. Machado's brief detention sparked outrage around the world with President-elect Donald Trump describing her as a, quote, "freedom fighter" who must stay safe and alive.
For NPR News, I'm Manuel Rueda in Bogota.
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