Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Thursday left her hideout for the first time in months, risking arrest as anti-government protesters made a last-ditch attempt to stop President Nicolás Maduro from being sworn in to another term after a disputed election.

Machado "was violently intercepted during her exit from the march in Chacao. In minutes we expect to confirm her situation. Agents of the regime shot at the motorcycles on which she was transported," the opposition said on X.

Venezuelan opposition parties and NGOs decried the arrests of a prominent press freedom activist and a well-known opposition figure, among others, ahead of planned protests against Friday's inauguration of President Nicolas Maduro for his third term.