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Venezuela\u2019s popular opposition leader, Mar\u00eda Corina Machado, was briefly detained by adversaries during an antigovernment protest in Caracas on Thursday, according to a statement on X<\/a> by a political aide. But she was soon released. <\/p>\n Ms. Machado was \u201cviolently intercepted as she left the gathering,\u201d her party said on X<\/a>. \u201cRegime troops shot at the motorcycles that were transporting her.\u201d<\/p>\n The country\u2019s autocrat, Nicol\u00e1s Maduro, is set to be sworn in for a third term as president on Friday.<\/p>\n Ms. Machado had been living in hiding<\/a> in Venezuela amid threats of arrest from government officials, and this was her first public appearance since August. She had called for gatherings around the country, and in cities around the world, to protest Mr. Maduro\u2019s inauguration.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Thousands turned out to support Ms. Machado at an event in Caracas on Thursday, all risking government detention. There, the opposition leader stood atop a truck while supporters shouted, \u201cFreedom! Freedom! Freedom!\u201d<\/p>\n On X, the political aide, Magalli Meda, said that as Ms. Machado was leaving the gathering, she was knocked off her motorbike.<\/p>\n \u201cFirearms went off at the event,\u201d Ms. Meda said. \u201cThey took her away by force.\u201d<\/p>\n During her brief detention, \u201cshe was forced to record several videos and was later released,\u201d she added. \u201cIn the next few hours she herself will be the one to address the country to explain what happened.\u201d<\/p>\n Representatives for Ms. Machado declined to say who detained her. The event was full of government security forces, who are often backed by members of armed gangs know as colectivos.<\/p>\n Venezuela\u2019s interior minister, Diosdado Cabello, speaking in a television interview<\/a>, called the capture \u201ca lie\u201d and accused the opposition of inventing it to attract attention.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The country\u2019s opposition, as well as the United States and other countries, say that Mr. Maduro had stolen a recent election and that the real winner was Edmundo Gonz\u00e1lez, a former diplomat who has Ms. Machado\u2019s backing.<\/p>\n Mr. Gonz\u00e1lez has been living in exile since September.<\/p>\n Before her detention, Ms. Machado told her followers, \u201cThis force that we have built and that grows every day has prepared us for this final phase.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhatever they do tomorrow,\u201d she said of the Maduro inauguration, \u201cthey\u2019ve just buried themselves!\u201d<\/p>\n About 2,000 people have been detained in Venezuela since the July 28 election, including, in recent days, Mr. Gonz\u00e1lez\u2019s son-in-law, Rafael Tudares<\/a>, as well as Carlos Correa, the director of a high-profile nonprofit organization, Espacio P\u00fablico.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n