President-elect Donald Trump says Venezuela's embattled opposition leader must be protected as President Nicolas Maduro takes the oath of office for a third six-year term.

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.

(Reuters) - It is not viable for Venezuelan opposition leader Edmundo Gonzalez to enter the country, his ally Maria Corina Machado said on Friday, shortly after President Nicolas Maduro was sworn in for a third term despite months of controversy over the country's contested July election.