VENEZUELAN opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was formally charged on Wednesday with involvement in a US-backed plot to assassinate President Nicolas Maduro.

The country’s chief prosecutor ordered the former congresswoman to appear in court on December 3 to answer the charges.

What little is known about the alleged plot was presented in a news conference in May, following months of deadly anti-government protests. 

At the time, officials presented conspiratorial emails between Ms Machado, other prominent hardliners and US State Department officials. 

The messages included discussions on the funding and implementation of a plot to topple Mr Maduro’s socialist government.

Arrest orders for three others implicated in the purported plot, all of them living abroad, were issued in June.

She denies any wrongdoing and claims that the charges are an attempt to silence her.