Venezuela arrests allies of opposition leader Machado

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00:00 It's the latest setback to Maria Machado's presidential ambitions.

00:05 On Wednesday, Venezuela's top prosecutor issued arrest warrants for nine allies of Machado,

00:11 Venezuela's opposition leader, including her campaign manager.

00:15 "We have unveiled a series of conspiracies, threats and actions, whose common denominator

00:23 is the intention to sow violence and chaos in the country and to make attempts on the

00:28 life of the president, Nicolás Maduro.

00:31 For all of the aforementioned in this new plot, the public prosecutor's office has

00:42 requested nine arrest warrants."

00:46 It comes weeks after Venezuela's top court upheld a ban which bars Machado from holding

00:51 office for 15 years.

00:53 Machado, who has been polling ahead of Maduro, strongly denounced the move, describing the

00:58 accusations against her team as completely false.

01:02 "Clearly the regime wants to close the path to change, the path to peaceful freedom.

01:10 They want to close it because they know they are defeated, because there is no way they

01:15 can win an election against us.

01:21 This is not an electoral process, this is a shameful attempt to shut down the electoral

01:26 process."

01:30 Washington also condemned the move and said it violated a free and fair elections deal

01:35 last year which led to the US easing some sanctions.

01:38 With no guarantee that her ban will be overturned, Machado is facing pressure to name an alternative

01:43 candidate to register by the deadline on Monday.

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