Venezuela’s Nobel peace laureate and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said on Monday that armed men “kidnapped” a close ally shortly after his release by authorities, following ex-leader Nicolas Maduro’s capture.
The country’s Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed later that same day that former National Assembly vice president Juan Pablo Guanipa, 61, was again taken into custody and put under house arrest, arguing that he violated the conditions of his release.
Guanipa would be placed under house arrest “in order to safeguard the criminal process,” the office said in a statement on Monday. The conditions of Guanipa’s release have yet to be made public.
Machado has demanded Guanipa’s immediate release in a post on X.
Guanipa was freed on Sunday after more than eight months in prison, together with several prominent opposition members.
“I am convinced that our country has completely changed. I am convinced that it is now up to all of us to focus on building a free and democratic country,” he said hours after his release.
Soon after, Guanipa’s son Ramón Guanipa reported that the freshly released politician was “intercepted and kidnapped” by “a group of approximately 10 unidentified people” in multiple vehicles in the Los Chorros area, east of the capital.
“We demand proof of life immediately and his release,” Ramón Guanipa wrote on X.
Venezuelan media outlets reported that a group of at least 10 heavily armed men in civilian clothes captured the former governor and deputy, forcing him into unmarked vehicles. There is currently no official confirmation of Guanipa’s whereabouts.
Guanipa, a leading figure close to Machado, was released from prison as part of a recent government initiative to free political detainees.
The initiative started under acting-President Delcy Rodríguez, just days after the US executed a stunning military operation in Caracas, which captured Maduro and extradited him to New York, where he faces charges of narco-terrorism.
Human rights organisations have repeatedly criticised detentions in Venezuela as arbitrary, politically-motivated and a mere attempt at muzzling dissent.
Many of Maduro’s political opponents were detained and charged with what activists say are bogus charges, designed to ensure a lengthy detention term. Common charges used against political figures include conspiracy, terrorism or treason.
Many of those released so far, including Guanipa, were charged with these offences, which the opposition says are unfounded.
Meanwhile, the Venezuelan government has begun releasing opposition members from prison after months, or even years, of detention.
On Sunday, at least 30 political prisoners were released. It is not clear how many people the government plans to free, but officials have repeatedly stated that more releases will be announced in the near future.
Additional sources • AP, AFP