Venezuelan Opposition Leader Denounces 37 Arrests Of Activists This Year

Thirty-seven political and social activists have been detained in Venezuela in the runup to July 28 elections in which Nicolas Maduro will seek a third, consecutive presidential term, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said Monday.

Machado, who overwhelmingly won an opposition primary vote last year but has been excluded from running by institutions loyal to Maduro, told reporters in Caracas the regime was "criminalizing electoral activity."

So far this year, she said, "37 political and social leaders have been detained" under a system she described as "tyranny."

Ten of them were directly linked to the opposition campaign led by Machado, but represented by Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia as the candidate on the ballot paper.

"There have been arbitrary detentions, temporary forced disappearances," Machado said, adding the campaign of "terror" directed at the opposition was indicative of "a regime that knows it has lost all support, all respect."

Two of her collaborators were arrested Monday as they left the campaign headquarters to buy lunch, Machado added, and taken to a prison described by rights groups as a "torture center."

The Venezuelan opposition has long denounced "political persecution" of its leaders and activists.

This has included actions such as shuttering or fining hotels or restaurants that serve Machado -- who polls show would easily defeat Maduro in a free and fair vote -- or members of her team.

Last Friday, three opposition activists were detained after organizing a campaign event attended by Urrutia.

In April, the rights group Foro Penal warned of a "significant intensification of... persecution" in Venezuela ahead of the presidential vote.

A recent count by the NGO Foro Penal said there were 278 "political prisoners" in Venezuela.

The government, which has not commented on claims of arbitrary arrests, accuse the opposition of conspiring against Maduro.