Juan Pablo Guanipa was first released, then abducted.
Venezuelan opposition politician Juan Pablo Guanipa was kidnapped in the capital Caracas just hours after he was released from prison, Reuters reports.
Guanipa was arrested just before the parliamentary and regional elections last May and accused of planning to sabotage the elections. He is a close ally of peace prize winner Maria Corina Machado.
He was released on Sunday.
It was opposition leader Maria Corina Machado who announced the kidnapping on the same day.
– A few minutes ago, Juan Pablo Guanipa was abducted in the district of Los Chorros in Caracas. Heavily armed men in civilian clothes arrived in four vehicles and took him away by force. We demand his immediate release, writes Machado in a message on X.
Earlier that day, it was reported that the politician had been released as part of a prisoner exchange.
The son, Ramon Guanipa, said in a video on social media that the incident happened just before midnight local time. He described it as an ambush in which his father was taken by ten heavily armed, unidentified men.
– My father has been kidnapped again, he said.
Hours before the kidnapping, the elderly Guanipa had posted several videos on social media after her release. There he spoke to a gathering of journalists and supporters, calling for the release of other political prisoners. He also called the current administration illegitimate.
The US kidnapped and deposed Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro last month. Vice President Delcy Rodriguez took over as interim president.
Venezuela’s opposition and human rights groups have argued for years that the country’s socialist government uses arrests to crack down on dissent.
Venezuela’s government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Guanipa’s disappearance.
date:2026-02-09 04:28:00
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