Venezuela arrests security chief for opposition leader days ahead of presidential vote -- July 17, 2024

July 17, 2024

"CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Officials in Venezuela arrested the head of security for the country’s top opposition leader on Wednesday, a little more than a week before President Nicolás Maduro faces a tough reelection.

Former lawmaker and opposition powerhouse María Corina Machado  said that Milciades Ávila was arrested on what she said were trumped up charges of violence against women. The accusation stems from a heated incident over the weekend when, according to videos posted on social media, a group of Maduro supporters began trading insults with Machado’s aides at a roadside restaurant on their way home from a campaign event outside Caracas.

Machado was banned from running against Maduro  after winning an opposition-organized primary last year. She is instead crisscrossing the country with a hand selected stand-in candidate, Edmundo González, a retired diplomat previously unknown to Venezuelans."

Source and full article: https://apnews.com/article/venezuela-election-opposition-candidate-security-chief-arrest-d48d194e95ac0a27b451ea211fb423ff