Venezuela's opposition leader María Corina Machado, who was prevented from running in Sunday's election, writes in a debate article in Wall Street Journal on Thursday that she is hiding and fears for her life after the regime's threats to arrest her.
"We Venezuelans have done our duty. We have voted out Maduro. Now it's up to the international community to decide whether to tolerate a proven illegal government", writes Machado.
Early on Friday morning, Machado's headquarters were searched by masked individuals who broke down doors and took away important documents, according to her party on social media.
Images show that several walls were sprayed with black paint.
Pressure on Maduro
The pressure has increased on Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro in recent days, who has declared himself the winner of Sunday's presidential election, despite the opposition claiming that they actually won.
"Given the overwhelming evidence, it is clear to the US and, most importantly, to the Venezuelan people that Edmundo González Urrutia won the most votes", says US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in a statement.
According to the opposition, protocols with counted votes collected directly from over 80 percent of the polling stations show that candidate González Urrutia won the election with a significant majority.
Maduro said on Wednesday that he was ready to show the protocols, but accused the opposition of having "blood on their hands" and said they should be imprisoned due to protests that broke out after the election.
At the same time, Maduro claimed that the country's electoral system had been hacked, and said that this was a reason why he could not publish the election results.
"Undemocratic"
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken notes that there is evidence that President Nicolás Maduro lost.
Blinken calls the regime's threats of arrests "an undemocratic attempt to suppress political participation and maintain power".
The US should keep its nose out of Venezuela, Maduro responds quickly.
Machado called on people to join widespread protests across the country on Saturday, in a post on social media on Thursday night Swedish time.
