- Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado says ally Juan Pablo Guanipa was kidnapped hours after his release from detention
- Guanipa was reportedly seized by heavily armed men in civilian clothing in Caracas
- His party, Justice First, blamed Venezuela’s security forces and held senior officials responsible for his safety
Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado has reported that her close ally, Juan Pablo Guanipa, was abducted just hours after being freed from detention.
Machado said on social media that heavily armed men in civilian clothes seized Guanipa in the Los Chorros neighbourhood of Caracas shortly after midnight, taking him by force in multiple vehicles.
Guanipa, a senior figure in the Justice First party and former governor, had spent more than eight months in custody and was among several opposition members released on Sunday following prolonged politically motivated detentions.
While opposition figures and Guanipa’s family have described the incident as a kidnapping, Venezuela’s public prosecutor’s office says he has been placed under house arrest after allegedly violating terms of his release.
Machado and other critics are calling for his immediate release and urging the international community to pressure Venezuelan authorities, reflecting broader concerns about the treatment of political opponents under the interim government.
