President Nicolás Maduro will be sworn in for another six years on Friday, and he is hoping to use foreign prisoners to get his way on the global stage.

The Maduro government says it has arrested at least nine U.S. citizens in the months since Venezuela’s widely discredited presidential election.

During her detention, an aide said, Maria Corina Machado “was forced to record several videos.” She has garnered enormous support for her opposition to Nicolás Maduro.

Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was freed on Thursday, her Vente Venezuela movement said, shortly after she was detained amid gunshots while leaving a protest in eastern Caracas. Opposition demonstrations took place throughout the country in an 11th-hour effort to put pressure on President Nicolas Maduro ahead of his third inauguration on Friday.

Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was freed on Thursday after a brief detention, her Vente Venezuela movement said on social media.

Security forces ‘violently intercepted’ her convoy, Machado’s team said, but the authorities denied she had been detained.

Two Americans have been arrested in Venezuela, with President Nicolas Maduro claiming the charges relate to an intent to "practice terrorism against the Venezuelan people."

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.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro on Friday will face more international rebuke than at any time in his 12 years in power.

Venezuela's opposition leader has been released after being detained at a protest hours before the inauguration of President Nicolas Maduro. Protesters are demanding Maduro step down, as the result of the country's July elections remains contested.