go through Vanessa Buschschlueter, bbc news
Twitter/@VenteVenezuelaMembers of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Collina Machado’s party say the party’s security chief has been detained.
Venezuela’s opposition party said security chief Milciades Avila was taken away from his residence in the capital Caracas by members of the Venezuelan security forces.
He is the latest opposition activist to be detained in the run-up to the July 28 presidential election, in which the opposition hopes to oust current President Nicolas Maduro.
So far, neither the government nor security forces have commented on why Mr. Avila was taken away or where he is being held.
Ms. Machado wrote on X that Mr. Avila had been accused of gender-based violence.
She said his arrest was related to an incident on Saturday when some women “tried to attack Edmundo and I” [González]” – the opposition presidential candidate she supports.
Ms Machado claimed that “dozens” of people witnessed the incident and that footage showed it was “a deliberate provocation”.
She added that she believed it was designed to leave her “unprotected” 11 days before the presidential election.
The opposition has complained for months of harassment by authorities.
Ms Machado won an opposition primary in October in a landslide but was barred from running due to alleged fraud, which she denies.
Since her appeal against the ban failed, she has thrown her support behind Edmundo Gonzalez and campaigned for him, traveling across the country to encourage voters to unite behind him in a bid to defeat Mr Maduro at the polls.
Dozens of members of her campaign have been arrested, some accused of involvement in anti-government plots.
Restaurant and food stall owners also complained that their businesses were shut down by officials after serving opposition leaders.
The government claims the businesses were shut down because their paperwork was substandard.
Foro Penal, a non-governmental organization that counts what it calls political prisoners, said more than 100 people with ties to the opposition were detained in the run-up to the presidential election.
The Criminal Law Forum said the large number of arrests clearly demonstrated a “systematic plan” to restrict the rights of Venezuelan citizens.
Polls show Edmundo Gonzalez with a wide lead over President Maduro, but many in the opposition fear the results could be tampered with.
Mr Maduro was re-elected in 2018 elections that were widely seen as neither free nor fair.
Despite these concerns, Ms Machado’s opposition coalition is urging its supporters to vote, arguing that overwhelming support for a coalition candidate will make any fraud more difficult.
