In Caracas, Venezuela, the Attorney General Tarek William Saab announced the arrest of María Corina Machado, a regional campaign leader for the opposition. Saab also accused Emill Brandt Ulloa, a member of the opposition, of taking part in violent demonstrations in January, among other crimes. Ulloa will be prosecuted in the anti-terrorism court in Caracas. All of this occurs ahead of an upcoming presidential election on July 28th, which has seen turmoil over who will be the opposition coalition candidate after Machado was banned from running earlier this year. The competition between the next election is becoming increasingly boorish. 

Pressure inside and outside the government has been rising. The Attorney General’s office is hoping to eschew the anarchy that is going on in Haiti at the moment. Machado is pursuing strong claims that the government is working against her. She has claimed that her ban from running was contrived by the current President Nicolás Maduro’s government to steer away a proficient candidate. Maduro is now running for his third consecutive term. Machado has also warned that the government had “kidnapped” Ulloa, her regional campaign leader. Later, it came out that Machado’s ally Ulloa will be charged with gender-based violence and insulting an official. 

María Corina Machado is a Venezuelan opposition politician. For years she has participated in politics and civil society. She has been running for presidency since 2012, where she first lost to the primary candidate Henrique Capriles. In 2014, she played a large part in organizing protests against the government of Maduro. She has continued to fight to get a grasp of Venezuela’s government. In January, three leaders of Machado’s team, Guillermo Lopez, Luis Camacaro and Juan Freites, were arrested for alleged conspiracy against the government, according to the Attorney General’s office. The leaders are said to have been part of a group of 11 people who tried to rob a military facility last year. At a later time, the group attacked a man named Freddy Bernal, the pro-government governor in the state of Tachira. Machado has proven to be disrupting the government, engaging in corruption, losing money for Venezuela’s foreign assets, and more. 

There is a clear sign of corruption within the Venezuelan government but the fight for democracy will continue. Conspiracy and crime within the government creates a pattern of corruption. Allowing free, safe, and fair political demonstrations is a remedy to stopping the cycle of arrest and distrust within the Venezuelan government.