The security chief of prominent Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was detained on Wednesday, a development that has raised significant concerns ahead of the nation’s forthcoming presidential election scheduled for July 28. The opposition party, Vente Venezuela, announced this on X (formerly Twitter).
Milciades Ávila, who has been responsible for Machado’s security, was reportedly taken into custody early in the morning. According to Vente Venezuela, government officials forcibly entered his residence, allegedly bypassing legal protocols. Ávila faces accusations of engaging in acts of gender violence against women who had attempted to confront Machado and opposition politician Edmundo González at a restaurant last Saturday.
Machado has fiercely defended Ávila, describing him as a long-time collaborator who has repeatedly risked his own safety to protect her. She characterized his arrest as a strategic move by the regime intended to leave their campaign vulnerable ahead of the imminent election. “I hold Nicolás Maduro responsible for the physical integrity of Milciades Ávila and that of the other 24 people from our kidnapped teams,” she stated in a separate post on X. González also publicly denounced Ávila’s detention via a video message.
The timing of this arrest is particularly noteworthy as Venezuela approaches a critical election where President Nicolás Maduro is seeking a third term. Current polls indicate that González, who is running in place of the banned Machado, has a substantial lead over Maduro. This election cycle has been marred by a series of politically motivated detentions. As reported by Foro Penal, an NGO focused on human rights, there have been 114 arbitrary detentions for political reasons in Venezuela so far this year. A significant 102 of those arrests pertain to the teams of Machado and González, contributing to the total of 301 political prisoners currently recorded in the country, which includes both military personnel and civilians.
Further details on the arrest and subsequent events can be accessed via the source article from JURIST.