Venezuela's opposition leader has been released after being detained at a protest hours before the inauguration of President Nicolas Maduro. Protesters are demanding Maduro step down, as the result of the country's July elections remains contested.
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00:00Protests across Venezuela
00:06and around the world
00:13in a last-ditch attempt to block the country's strongman leader
00:17Nicolas Maduro clinging to power.
00:19Hours before he's due to be inaugurated for a third term,
00:22his opponents demand he stand down,
00:25still contesting the results of July's presidential election.
00:30To claim the elections that we did,
00:33gently and happily, each one of us,
00:36we land in the hope of God to get Maduro out.
00:41Because Maduro's government is now unsustainable
00:45in all aspects of life.
00:47I feel that this time we are all united.
00:49No one wants to endure this tyranny and this horrible dictatorship
00:54that has ravaged our country.
00:55And no one wants to see our country in those hands.
01:00Maduro has ruled the country of 28 million people since 2013.
01:06And in a special presidential election called six months ago,
01:09the government-controlled electoral authorities
01:12declared him the winner for another six-year term.
01:17The opposition claimed the result was marred by fraud,
01:20saying their candidate, Edmundo González,
01:23was the legitimate victor with 70% of the vote.
01:26Those accusations are backed by leaders across the globe
01:30who've called for election tallies to be released.
01:33Independent observers also found the opposition's tallies to be legitimate.
01:37And countries like the U.S. have formally recognized González
01:40as Venezuela's president-elect.
01:44But he was forced to flee to Spain in September
01:47after a court released a warrant for his arrest,
01:49accusing the opposition leader of conspiracy and terrorism
01:52amid the presidential dispute.
01:56That left popular opposition figure Maria Carina Machado in charge.
02:01And she's just addressed supporters for the first time in months.
02:26This crime against the constitution and popular sovereignty
02:32will be sentenced to its fate.
02:38As Machado left the demonstration, she was detained by officials.
02:42But the arrest was short-lived.
02:44And she was released after leaders from across Latin America
02:47and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump denounced the move.
02:50Maduro's government said the news of her arrest
02:53was fabricated to dent the administration's reputation.
03:14Maduro's government has tightened security measures ahead of his inauguration,
03:18as opposition leader González pledges to return to Venezuela
03:21to crash the re-election party.
03:26As the swearing-in ceremony draws closer,
03:28protesters here and around the world remain defiant,
03:32demanding change in a country they say has long been scarred by bad management.