Politics
Venezuelan Police Threaten Guaido and Detain Top Opposition Aide
By and- Freddy Guevara was broadcasting in his car when taken away
- European Union delegation is in Caracas talking to both sides
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido said heavily-armed security officers penetrated his apartment building, threatening him with arrest, and detained Freddy Guevara, a top lieutenant, in a separate operation.
Surrounded by neighbors who came to support him, Guaido said the men coming for him had set off an explosive. He reported no injury. Those who took Guevara pointed long weapons at him.
Guevara, a former vice president of the national assembly and number two in Guaido’s party, was detained while broadcasting from his car on a Caracas highway, according to a tweet and press release from the party.
“Thugs of the Nicolas Maduro dictatorship arrest lawmaker Freddy Guevara,” the National Communication Center, Guaido’s press office, wrote on Twitter.
Guevara posted a video on Instagram showing himself inside his vehicle when armed men forced him out. He hasn’t been charged with any crime yet.
The actions come during a European Union visit on the possibility of an observer mission for planned local and state elections in November. European delegates are holding talks with the government and opposition as well as human rights activists.
The opposition is divided on whether to take part in the elections, fearful of legitimizing the regime on the one hand, and losing out on winning some offices, on the other.
Neither the information ministry nor the public prosecutor’s office responded to requests for comment on Monday’s events.
Maduro’s government has accused Guaido of leading coup attempts and assassination plans against the socialist leader several times, including an apparent invasion attempt in May when more than 30 people were detained.
Last week, Caracas was shaken by three days of shootings between gangs and security forces. Interior Minister Carmen Melendez blamed “right-wing groups.” Authorities killed 22 people, Melendez said.
Several of Guaido’s closest allies, including his uncle Juan Marquez and his former right-hand man Roberto Marrero were detained for months. Marrero fled the country soon after being released in a recent wave of pardons; his uncle remains under house arrest.
Guaido and Guevara’s political mentor, Leopoldo Lopez, fled from his refuge at the Spanish ambassador’s residence in Caracas in October after escaping from house arrest.
Guevara was a refugee in the Chilean embassy between November 2017 and August 2020, after leading protests against Maduro and receiving threats of detention. Maduro pardoned him along with more than 100 others after an agreement with segments of the opposition.
Venezuela has some 300 political prisoners, according to Penal Forum. The United Nations has reported that security forces, especially FAES, often resort to torture or inhuman treatment, including electric shocks, suffocation, beatings and sexual violence to extract confessions.
— With assistance by Fabiola Zerp
Keine Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen