The leader of her opposition Venezuelathe Maria Corina Machadoin a Wall Street Journal article published Thursday, says she is “in hiding” and “fearing for her life” after Sunday’s presidential election, in which the head of state Nicolas Maduro he secured a third term, according to the official results, which his opponents, however, dispute, arguing that their own candidate prevailed.

“I write these lines in hiding, fearing for my life, my freedom and that of my compatriots,” says the leader of the opposition.

Mrs. Machado, who was excluded from the process, gave her place to the diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia.

“I may be arrested as I write these words,” he insists.

An AFP source in the opposition, however, assured that the head of the opposition is in a “safe” location and will address the citizens of her country within hours.

“After this farce,” the politician continues, referring to the declaration of Mr. Maduro’s electoral victory, “spontaneous demonstrations immediately broke out in poor areas of Caracas and other cities.”

“Mr. Maduro reacted with brutal repression. State security forces have killed at least 20 Venezuelan citizens, jailed over 1,000 and carried out 11 forced disappearances,” complains Mrs. Machado.

Non-governmental organizations reported 11 civilian deaths and approximately 700 arrests.

According to the prosecution, 1,000 arrests were made and a soldier was killed.

“The repression must be ended immediately so that an agreement can be reached to facilitate the process of transition to democracy (…) We will not rest until we have our freedom,” concludes the opposition leader in her article published by the American newspaper.

The day before Wednesday, Mrs. Machado called for mass demonstrations.

According to official results from the National Electoral Council (CNE), which the opposition says is on regular duty, Mr Maduro, 61, the political heir to President Hugo Chavez (1999-2013), was re-elected for a third consecutive term with 51 .2%, or 5.15 million votes, while his opponent received 44.2%.

The CNE, citing hacking of its IT systems, has not released the full and detailed results.

The opposition counters that based on its own count, Mr. González Urrutia prevailed with 67% of the votes. Initially, Mrs. Machado stated that she received 73%.