Opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said Thursday she will continue working toward a peaceful change of Venezuela's government even as she complies with an order to face charges of plotting to kill the president.

Venezuela's chief prosecutor on Wednesday ordered the former congresswoman to appear in court next week on charges of participating in what the government described back in May as a U.S.-backed plot to assassinate socialist President Nicolas Maduro. She denies the allegations.

Machado told journalists the charges are further evidence that the Maduro administration has become a dictatorship and said the charges may have been retribution for demanding the resignation of national election council leaders earlier Wednesday.

"Maduro is trying to bring chaos to Venezuela, and we are in danger," she said.

Together with fellow opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, Machado called tens of thousands of demonstrators into the streets to protest the government earlier this year. The strategy brought them into conflict with more moderate opposition leaders who were advocating gradual electoral change.