The VPI internet channel quoted Magalli Meda, one of Machado's main collaborators, who reported the arrest.
Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was arrested Thursday after appearing in public for the first time at a rally in Caracas, the day before President Nicolas Maduro is sworn in for a new term in Venezuela, local media reported.
The VPI internet channel quoted Magalli Meda, one of Machado's main collaborators, who reported the arrest.
Shortly before, the Vente Venezuela movement reported on the social network X that Machado had been "violently intercepted" and that government agents fired at the motorcyclists transporting her, although they did not immediately clarify whether there were any injuries in the episode.
Machado, a 57-year-old industrial engineer, had arrived in the afternoon in an area east of Caracas on a truck, waving to people and dressed in a white T-shirt with the Venezuelan flag painted on one sleeve and a flag of her country in her hand.
"As of today we are in a new phase," Machado said in a speech lasting about 10 minutes. "They have lost the streets, which are ours, they are entrenched in (the Government Palace in) Miraflores."
Reuters witnesses estimated that about 7,000 people had gathered in Caracas at around 2 p.m. local time (1800 GMT), far fewer than the thousands who took to the streets against the results of the July vote.
Electoral authorities and the country's highest court have ratified Maduro's victory in the July elections, while the opposition claims that its candidate, former diplomat Edmundo González, won the vote.
Security forces set up checkpoints in major cities across the country and several gatherings were dispersed by police.
"I'm not afraid, I lost it a long time ago. Freedom is priceless," said Neglis Payares, a 70-year-old retiree with two children living outside Venezuela.
"We don't know how many of those who are there have their hearts on this side," he added, referring to uniformed officers who were near the opposition rally in an area in western Caracas.
In Maracaibo and Maracay, opposition protests with dozens of people were quickly dispersed by officers, while tear gas was fired in the centre of Valencia. Opposition supporters also gathered in San Cristobal, near the border with Colombia.
Meanwhile, supporters of the ruling party marched in various areas of Caracas to show their support for Maduro.
"We have come out to show that there is a democracy. On this side, the patriots who are going to swear an oath with Nicolás (Maduro), on the other side, the fascists who ask for (foreign) intervention," said Manuel Rincón, a 50-year-old motorcyclist.
The president, a 62-year-old former trade unionist, has the support of the military high command and the police and military intelligence corps controlled by close collaborators of Diosdado Cabello, the powerful Minister of the Interior, who led the pro-government march on Thursday.
Gonzalez, who sought asylum in Spain after an arrest warrant was issued for him and for whom the government is offering a $100,000 reward, has not given details of how he would return to the country and take up his post.
