Aides to Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said she was detained Thursday, followed moments later by official denials, in a confusing episode that capped a day of protests seeking to block President Nicolás Maduro from clinging to power.

Venezuela’s popular opposition leader, María Corina Machado, was detained during an anti-government protest in Caracas on Thursday, according to a statement on X by her party, Vente Venezuela. Ms. Machado had been living in hiding amid threats of arrest from government officials, and this was her first public appearance since August.

Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was detained at a march in Caracas on Thursday in her first public appearance in months and her ally, former presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez, demanded she be freed immediately.