Venezuela’s opposition leader speaks at a rally amid threats of arrest

The leader of the opposition in Venezuela, Maria Corina Machado, spoke at a large meeting in the capital Caracas, rejecting the government’s proposal that he be arrested.

Ms Machado went into hiding earlier this week after accusing President Nicolás Maduro of rigging the opposition candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez, to a clear victory in the presidential election.

The president accused Ms. Machado of violence and said that she and Mr. Gonzalez should face decades in prison.

The electoral commission – controlled by allies of Mr Maduro – said he won with 52% of the vote last Sunday, but independent observers say there is no transparency.

The commission has not yet published the full list of results. The opposition parties themselves said that the votes showed that they had won the election by a large margin. Opinion polls before the election showed that the challenger had clearly won.

On Saturday, Ms. Machado spoke to thousands of her supporters in Caracas in a truck with the words “Venezuela has won”.

“We have never been as strong as today,” he told the crowd, adding that “the state has never been weaker… It has lost all legitimacy”.

The opposition leader, who was barred from contesting the election, has spent days in hiding.

Earlier this week, Ms. Machado wrote in The Wall Street Journal that she was “fearing for my life,” along with other opposition leaders.

He was greeted by cheers of “freedom, freedom” and was accompanied by several other opposition leaders – but not Mr Gonzales.

In another video message, he urged supporters to “respond to the attack on the regime with hope, harmony and peace”.

Venezuela’s security forces have spent the past few days trying to quell mass protests. About 11 people have died when the police clashed.

More than 1,000 opposition protesters have been arrested.

The government is coming under international pressure. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Friday there was “overwhelming evidence” that Mr Gonzalez had won the election.

His intervention comes as the presidents of Brazil, Mexico and Colombia have all called on Venezuela to release detailed election results.

Other regional governments, including Argentina, Costa Rica, Panama and Uruguay have all expressed concern about the vote.

But Mr Maduro has been supported by his allies in Russia, China and Cuba.

He asked the Supreme Court of Venezuela to analyze the voting statistics in order to verify the results, which gave him another six-year term in power.

Opposition parties say the court is in the hands of those loyal to the government who will delay the publication of the statistics. Mr. Gonzalez boycotted the hearing on Friday.