María Corina Machado’s security chief arrested

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado’s head of security has been arrested, members of her party said.

The opposition party Vente Venezuela said that security chief Milciades Ávila was taken away by Venezuelan security forces from the house where he was staying in the capital Caracas.

He is the latest opposition activist to be arrested ahead of the July 28 presidential election, in which the opposition hopes to oust incumbent President Nicolás Maduro.

So far, neither the government nor security forces have commented on why Mr. Ávila was arrested or where he is being held.

Ms Machado wrote on X that Mr Ávila had been charged with gender-based violence.

She said his arrest was related to an incident on Saturday in which several women “tried to attack me and Edmundo [González]”- the opposition presidential candidate she supported.

Ms Machado alleged that the incident was witnessed by “dozens of people” and that the footage showed it was “a deliberate provocation”.

She added that she believed the ban was designed to leave her “unprotected” just 11 days before the presidential election.

The opposition has complained of government harassment for months.

Ms Machado, who won a landslide victory in the opposition primary in October, is barred from running over allegations of fraud, which she denies.

Since losing her appeal against the ban, she has endorsed Edmundo González and campaigned on his behalf, traveling across the country and encouraging voters to unite behind him to defeat Mr Maduro at the polls.

Dozens of members of her campaign team have been arrested, some accused of being involved in anti-government plots.

Restaurant and food stall owners also complained about their businesses being closed by officials after they served opposition leaders.

The government alleges that these businesses were closed because of invalid documents.

The NGO Foro Penal, which keeps a tally of political prisoners, said more than 100 people linked to the opposition had been detained ahead of the presidential election.

Foro Penal said the high number of arrests was a clear sign of “a systematic plan” to restrict the rights of Venezuelan citizens.

Polls show Edmundo González has a large lead over President Maduro, but many in the opposition fear the election results could be tampered with.

The 2018 election that re-elected Mr Maduro to a second term was widely criticised as neither free nor fair.

The opposition coalition led by Ms Machado is urging supporters to vote despite these concerns, arguing that overwhelming support for their unity candidate will make any fraud unlikely.