DORAL, FLA. (WSVN) - Dozens of demonstrators gathered in Doral to express anger against the brief kidnapping of Venezuela’s opposition leader.
Supporters of Maria Corina Machado and her anti-Nicolás Maduro movement gathered in Downtown Doral Park on Thursday afternoon after reports that Machado was detained following her appearance from hideout to lead an anti-Maduro protest in Caracas.
The protests in Doral, home to a large Venezuelan community in the U.S., come one day before the presidential inauguration in Venezuela.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava called for Machado’s immediate release.
Machado and her allies are trying to prevent Maduro from being inaugurated on Friday to a third six-year term following elections in July that the opposition claims they won.
Maduro claims to still be the rightful president, despite evidence from international organizations that he lost the presidential election.
Protesters in Doral told 7News they want their show of support to send a message that they want to see Edmundo Gonzalez, the other opposition leader, inaugurated as president of Venezuela and a peaceful transfer of power.
“It’s overwhelming but at the same time it’s exciting. I think it’s a great opportunity for us Venezuelans to get our freedom,” said Maholy Castro.
“Tomorrow is the big day where they should officially be given the presidency to our elected president, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, and today they were going to be concentrations all over the country. My mother, my sister are in Venezuela, and they were going to the concentration there,” said a protester. “Our leader, Maria Corina Machado, who has been in hiding since August more or less, was going to be in the concentration, so I felt the need that we needed to give as well our presence in honor of them because my family is there, and to give Machado all the positive energy possible to finally have the liberty that we deserve as Venezuelans after 25 years of living under this dictatorship.”
Protesters said they want to see a free Venezuela and an end to the dictatorship.
“I also know that both Maduro and Gonzalez Urrutia will probably swear in and it will still be a problem,” said Raimundo Molina. “The ultimate goal, she stated it herself, this is until the end. Our goal is to achieve the freedom for our country.”
“To stop being corrupted, to be more free, to have our people back, to have everything back as it was, having food, being safe, to feel safe there,” said Hillary Arroyave.
Machado, who is the outspoken leader of the freedom movement, has called Maduro a dictator, adding that he needs to step down.
“I would never miss this opportunity. This is an historic opportunity, day and this is a movement in which all of us have taken huge risks for freedom, for families,” Machado said in a recent interview with media.
Her team said she was arrested following an anti-government protest in Caracas on Thursday. As she was leaving, her motorcycle envoy was shot by military forces.
But about an hour later, videos surfaced on social media of Machado telling her supporters that she is OK and was let go.
Protesters in Doral aren’t buying the video and are concerned about her safety.
“Today is just the first step. There’s, obviously Venezuela hasn’t gotten her freedom yet and we are going to need a lot of international help for that to happen.”
Maduro supporters in Venezuela said the whole detainment story is false and that Machado was never detained.
While details remain unclear on what happened, Machado took to social media on Thursday night to let supporters know that she is in a safe place and will fight until the end.
There are no immediate details on Machado’s whereabouts.
Following the rally in downtown Doral, protesters hosted a mass for the people of Venezuela.
Supporters are expected to rally again in Doral at 4 p.m. on Friday.
Copyright 2024 Sunbeam Television Corp. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.