They arrest María Corina Machado’s security chief

Officials from security forces of the Nicolás Maduro administration arrested this Wednesday the “chief of protection” of the opposition leader María Corina Machado, Milciades Ávila, when he was in his home, reported the Vente Venezuela political party.

«Urgent. Kidnapped head of protection of María Corina Machado, Milciades Ávila. Today, at dawn, regime officials forcibly entered the house where he was, violating all legal procedures. We demand his immediate release!«wrote the training on their X account.

The message appears accompanied by a photo of Ávila, in charge of ensuring the safety of the opposition leader during the electoral campaign, in which Machado leads the activities, in various states of the country, of the standard-bearer of the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD). , Edmundo González Urrutia.

At the moment, the reasons why the arrest was carried out and the place to which the chief was transferred for security after being taken from his home are unknown.

According to the NGO Foro Penal, the authorities have arrested 102 people linked to González Urrutia’s campaign this year, to whom Ávila has now joined. Of the 102 arrests, 77 occurred since the formal beginning of the campaign, on July 4, which reflects “a clear pattern of action against activists, militants, even collaborators or people who provide their services” to González Urrutia and Machado, said Gonzalo Himiob, director of the Penal Forum.

Machado blames Maduro

This Wednesday, María Corina Machado held Nicolás Maduro responsible for the “physical integrity” of Milciades Ávila, former police officer and head of security for her team, arrested this morning for alleged “gender violence against some women” who “tried to attack” her last Saturday. along with the opposition presidential candidate Edmundo González Urrutia.

«This morning (Milciades Ávila) was kidnapped by the regime accused of gender violence against some women who last Saturday tried to attack Edmundo and me in (the restaurant) La Encrucijada (…) there are dozens of witnesses and videos that demonstrate that this act It was a planned provocation to leave us without protection 11 days before July 28«wrote the opponent in X.

Machado also held Maduro responsible for what may happen to “24 other people” on his team and that of González Urrutia, who he assured are “kidnapped and today prisoners of tyranny«.

«I alert the world about Maduro’s escalation of repression against those who work in the Campaign or help us in any part of the country (…) he has made violence and repression his campaign«, he stated.