Venezuelan opposition leader urges supporters to demonstrate to force Maduro to leave office

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado on Sunday urged supporters to demonstrate across the country, saying in a video message that President Nicolás Maduro will not step down on his own and they ''must make him leave.''

Machado instructed supporters to demonstrate Thursday, the day before Venezuela's next presidential term is set to begin. Her message came hours after the government again made clear its intention to arrest retired diplomat Edmundo González, who claims to have defeated Maduro in last year's election.

''Maduro is not going to leave on his own, we must make him leave with the strength of a population that never gives up,'' Machado said in a social media video. ''Go outside, shout, fight. It is time to stand firm, and make them understand that this is as far as they go. That this is over.''

Machado, who has been hiding for months at an undisclosed location to avoid arrest, told supporters she ''will be with'' them Thursday.

Hours earlier, without mentioning González's name, National Assembly leader Jorge Rodriguez said the unicameral body would request the immediate arrest of the retired diplomat should he step on Venezuelan soil. The threat followed the government's recent announcement of a $100,000 reward for information on González's whereabouts.

González left Venezuela for exile in Spain in September after a judge issued a warrant for his arrest in connection with an election-related investigation. In recent weeks, he has vowed to travel to Venezuela to be sworn in for the presidential term which, by law, must begin Jan. 10, but he has not explained how he plans to return or wrest power from Maduro, whose party controls all institutions and the military.

''That unworthy being ... has been saying that he is going to return to the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela,'' Rodriguez said shortly after he was re-elected as the National Assembly's president. ''Each and every deputy who defends peace will request, if he touches a bit of land of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, his immediate arrest.''

Meanwhile, Maduro already received an invitation from the National Assembly to be sworn in for a third term Friday, more than five months after the country's National Electoral Council, stacked with ruling-party loyalists, declared him winner of the July 28 election.

Unlike previous presidential elections, electoral authorities did not provide detailed vote counts. Yet, the opposition collected tally sheets from more than 80% of the nation's electronic voting machines, posted them online and said they showed González had won the election with twice as many votes as Maduro.

Global condemnation over the lack of transparency prompted Maduro to ask Venezuela's high court, also controlled by ruling-party supporters, to audit the results. The court subsequently reaffirmed his victory.

The U.S. and most European governments have rejected the election's official results and consider González the legitimate winner.