Machado faces indictment for plotting to kill Venezuela's president

CARACAS, Venezuela, Dec. 3 (UPI) -- A Venezuelan opposition leader was summoned to a Caracas court Wednesday to be formally charged with alleged conspiracy to kill the Venezuelan president.

Officials said in May that Maria Corina Machado was involved in a plot they uncovered to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro, claiming the U.S. State Department and Venezuelan critics of the government were also involved. In the midst of street protests against the government, e-mails regarded as evidence of the plot were publically presented; Machado said the messages were fabricated.

Machado, an elected but expelled former member of Venezuela's National Assembly, helped lead some of the demonstrations. She was removed from office because she incited protests in which over 40 people, demonstrators and police officers, died, National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello said.

Machado's indictment will likely encourage additional U.S. sanctions against Venezuela. U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtine, R-Fla. and Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart, R-Fla. each announced their support of Machado Wednesday.