Venezuelan opposition leader's security chief detained

Milciades Ávila was arrested at a house he was staying at on Wednesday morning

The head of security of Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has been detained, members of their party say.

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

He is the latest opposition activist to be detained in the run-up to the presidential election on 28 July, in which the opposition hopes to unseat the incumbent, Nicolás Maduro.

Neither the government nor the security forces have so far commented on why Mr Ávila was taken or where he is being held.

Ms Machado wrote on X that Mr Ávila had been accused of gender violence.

She said that his arrest was connected to an incident on Saturday in which a number of women "had tried to attack me and Edmundo [González]" - the opposition presidential candidate whom she backs.

Ms Machado alleges that the incident was witnessed by "dozens of people" and that footage showed it had been "a deliberate provocation".

She added that she believed it had been designed to leave her "without protection" just 11 days before the presidential election.

The opposition has complained about harassment by the authorities for months.

Ms Machado, who won an opposition primary by a landslide in October, is barred from running from office over alleged fraud, which she has denied.

Since losing her appeal against the ban, she has thrown her weight behind Edmundo González and campaigned on his behalf, criss-crossing the country and encouraging voters to unite behind him in order to defeat Mr Maduro at the polls.

Dozens of members of her campaign team have been arrested, with some accused of involvement in anti-government conspiracies.

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

The government alleges that the businesses were shuttered because their paperwork was not in order.

The non-governmental organisation Foro Penal, which keeps a tally of what it says are political prisoners, said more than 100 people linked to the opposition had been detained in the run-up to the presidential election.

Foro Penal said that the high number of arrests was a clear indication of "a systematic scheme" to restrict the rights of Venezuelan citizens.

Opinion polls give Edmundo González a huge lead over President Maduro, but many in the opposition fear the election result may be tampered with.

The 2018 election in which Mr Maduro was re-elected to a second term was widely dismissed as being neither free nor fair.

The opposition coalition led by Ms Machado is urging its supporters to turn out to vote despite these concerns, arguing that overwhelming support for their unity candidate will make it harder for any fraud to take place.