'Kidnapped By Dictatorship': Venezuela Opposition Leader Juan Pablo Guanipa Arrested

(MENAFN- Live Mint) Top Venezuela opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa was arrested on Friday for allegedly leading a“terrorist group” that sought to sabotage the May 25 elections. The arrest of Guanipa comes amid opposition calls for a mass boycott of the weekend vote.

The opposition has time and again been accused of conspiring with countries such as the United States to commit terrorism, overthrow President Nicolas Maduro and attack Venezuela's power grid, Reuters reported. Maduro frequently claims to be the target of US- and Colombian-backed coup plots.

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The opposition and Washington have always denied the accusations.

Who is Juan Pablo Guanipa?

Juan Pablo Guanipa is a 60-year-old former MP, lawyer, long-time politician and close ally of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado. As per reports, Machado has called on voters to spurn the May 25 elections.

A trained lawyer, Guanipa was named vice president in the now-defunct parallel government established by former opposition leader Juan Guaido after 2018 presidential elections which returned Maduro for a second term.

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Guanipa, like Machado, went into hiding after the July 2024 presidential vote, which the opposition and much of the international community believe opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia rightfully won.

Last year in July, Leftist President Nicolas Maduro claimed to have won a third term, without producing detailed results to back his claim. He was widely accused of stealing the last elections.

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1. Juan Pablo Guanipa, a well-known Venezuelan opposition politician, was arrested on Friday on charges of conspiring to sabotage upcoming parliamentary and regional elections that the opposition has vowed to boycott, AFP reported.

2. Venezuela's Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello linked Guainía's arrest to what the government called a foiled plot by foreign mercenaries to sabotage Sunday's vote for members of parliament and 24 state governors. Cabello said that Guanipa also faces charges of money laundering and inciting hatred.

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"He is one of the leaders of this terrorist network," Cabello said on state television, adding that the plan to disrupt the vote was detailed on four telephones and a laptop found in Guanipa's possession.

3. The minister said 70 people, including foreigners, were detained in the alleged plot to carry out attacks during Sunday's regional and legislative elections. As per AFP, he added that these 70 people including citizens of Ecuador, Argentina, Germany, Serbia and "a few" Pakistani nationals.

4. The minister further alleged that the suspects allegedly planned to plant bombs in hospitals, metro stations, police stations and power plants. He said authorities had seized explosives, weapons, detonators and cash.

5. A message on Guanipa's X account, shortly after his arrest, read: "If you are reading this, it is because I have been kidnapped by the forces of Nicolas Maduro's regime."

Guanipa wrote on X, "As of today, I am part of the list of Venezuelans kidnapped by the dictatorship...This is a kidnapping motivated by a single reason: the regime's fear of the Venezuelan people. The dictatorship's fear of the spirit of July 28th and 29th."

He added,“I am not sure what will happen to me in the coming hours, days and weeks. But what I am sure of is that we will win the long fight against the dictatorship.”

6. Edmundo González also posted on X, saying the "regime has reactivated a political repression operation" just hours before "a farcical election with no guarantees of any kind." In a message to the international community, he said, "This isn't an election. It's an authoritarian device to shield the power they've usurped."

7. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio issued a statement expressing "concern following the unjustified and arbitrary arrest of opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa and over 70 individuals" in what he labeled a "new wave of repression from the Maduro regime."

8. The government on Monday suspended flights from Colombia after arresting dozens of people it said were mercenaries that had slipped into Venezuela from its neighbor.

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