Former governor Manuel Rosales had been a fugitive for six years
Rosales claims charges of stealing public money are politically motivated.
A Venezuelan opposition leader who had been living in self-imposed exile has been arrested after returning to the socialist South American country.
Former governor Manuel Rosales returned to Venezuela on Thursday after six years as a fugitive. He was arrested by intelligence police who met him at the airport and was expected to appear in a Caracas court later in the day.
Before his arrest, Rosales vowed to continue fighting the country’s 16-year-old socialist administration.
Rosales was governor of the western state of Zulia, where he returned on Thursday. He ran for president in 2006 and lost to Hugo Chávez.
He went into exile in 2009, fleeing to Peru and then Panama after prosecutors accused him of stealing public money. He says the charges are false and politically motivated.