Venezuelan authorities said they were seeking court approval to put prominent opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa under house arrest on Sunday, shortly after he was seized by armed men in Caracas in what his son called a kidnapping.
The incident came hours after Guanipa was released from jail after being held more than eight months on accusations of leading a terrorist plot.
He's a close ally of Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina Machado who won the Nobel for her efforts to unseat long-time leader Nicolas Maduro. She and the politician's son Ramon Guanipa both said he had been forcibly taken by unidentified men.
"Heavily armed men dressed in civilian clothes arrived in four vehicles and took him away by force," Machado said in a post on X.
The younger Guanipa said in a social media video, "My father has again been kidnapped."
Venezuela's Public Ministry said in a statement that Guanipa broke the terms of his release, but did not provide details. It did not address whether he had been re-arrested.
Just hours before, Juan Pablo Guanipa had posted videos to social media in which he spoke to journalists and a crowd of cheering supporters. He urged the release of other political prisoners and called the current administration illegitimate.
Guanipa had said in an interview with a local online outlet that he spoke briefly with Machado after being released, and hoped to speak with her further the next day.
The incident casts uncertainty over government pledges to pass an amnesty law and free political prisoners, as U.S. pressure mounts a month after the Trump administration captured and deposed Maduro in January.
Venezuela's opposition and human rights groups have said for years that the country's socialist government uses detentions to stamp out dissent.
However, the government denies holding political prisoners and says those jailed have committed crimes.
Officials say nearly 900 have been released, but they have not been clear about the timeline and appear to be including releases from previous years. The government has not provided an official list of how many prisoners will be released or revealed their identities.
Rights group Foro Penal has said 383 political prisoners had been freed since the Venezuelan government announced on 8 January that it would begin a new series of releases.
It counted another 35 releases on Sunday, including opposition politician Freddy Superlano and lawyer Perkins Rocha, also close allies of Machado.
The group's director, Alfredo Romero, said on social media they did not yet have clear information about who took Guanipa.
Meanwhile, Maduro’s re-election in 2024 was widely condemned as fraudulent, and the U.S. government has made it clear that recognition of any transitional authority hinges on the genuine restoration of human rights.
Overnight Iranian strikes on an air base in Jordan damaged multiple U.S. aircraft and left one without a wing, American media reported. Meanwhile, ...
Ukrainian forces struck a Russian oil refinery in Siberia and a seaport in Dagestan in the past 24 hours, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy s...
Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan are considering restoring passenger ferry services across the Caspian Sea, six years after the route was suspended....
Four people were killed, including a child, in Ukrainian strikes on the Russian port city of Novorossiysk overnight, according to the governor of the Krasnodar region. Ukraine's drone forces commander, Robert Brovdi, said Russian military ships were destroyed in the attacks.
Wildfires have broken out in Türkiye’s Antalya province, forcing hundreds of people to evacuate as strong winds fuelled the flames.
A TV channel was struck during a live broadcast on Tuesday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said, as Russian strikes on Kyiv killed at least three people, the city's Mayor Vitali Klitschko said. Meanwhile, drones hit civilian infrastructure in Russia's southwestern Saratov region.
U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) said its forces destroyed five Iranian crude oil carriers after the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) allegedly launched two ballistic missile attacks against a U.S. Navy warship over the past two days.
Iran’s Revolutionary Guards (IRGC) said on Wednesday they attacked two U.S. vessels and eight oil tankers in the Persian Gulf, calling the strikes a response to a U.S. attack on five Iranian tankers.
Ukrainian forces struck a Russian oil refinery in Siberia and a seaport in Dagestan in the past 24 hours, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said. He will meet Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney on Thursday to discuss air defences for Ukraine over winter.
Iceland’s government plans to introduce legislation in February to permanently ban commercial whaling, potentially leaving Norway and Japan as the world’s only countries still allowing the practice.
U.S. President Donald Trump put himself and the Iran war at the centre of the Republican midterm campaign on Wednesday, rallying voters in Dallas with promises of cash payments and a prediction that the conflict would end after November’s elections.
Oil has crossed the $100-a-barrel mark again, but for Gulf countries this is not simply good news. Brent reached about $100.07 on Wednesday, its highest level since July, as the U.S.-Iran war and attacks on Saudi energy facilities raised fresh fears about supplies.
Start your day informed with the AnewZ Daily Brief. Here are the top stories for the 10th of September, covering the latest developments about AI and technology.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment