Kamal Ghorui
Juan Pablo Guanipa, a key ally of Venezuelan opposition leader and Nobel Peace laureate Maria Corina Machado, was abducted by armed men just hours after being released from prison, in a dramatic turn that has again placed him at the centre of Venezuela’s political crisis.Machado said Guanipa, a former vice president of the National Assembly and one of her closest political associates, was forcibly taken away in Caracas shortly after his release on Sunday. “A few minutes ago, Juan Pablo Guanipa was kidnapped in the Los Chorros neighborhood of Caracas. Heavily armed men dressed in civilian clothes arrived in four vehicles and took him away by force. We demand his immediate release,” she wrote on social media platform X.The 61-year-old opposition leader had been freed a day earlier after spending months in detention, following the capture of ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro. His release was part of a gradual move by authorities to free political prisoners amid a broader push for reconciliation.Guanipa had appeared in a video posted on his X account earlier on Sunday, showing what appeared to be his release papers. “Here we are, being released,” he said in the clip, adding that he had spent “10 months in hiding, almost nine months detained here” in Caracas.Speaking to AFP later that day, Guanipa called on the government to respect the outcome of the 2024 presidential election, which opposition candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia was widely seen as having won. “Let’s respect it. That’s the basic thing, that’s the logical thing. Oh, you don’t want to respect it? Then let’s go to an electoral process,” he said.Guanipa was arrested in May 2025 in connection with an alleged conspiracy to undermine legislative and regional elections boycotted by the opposition. He was charged with terrorism, money laundering and incitement to violence and hatred. Prior to his arrest, he had been in hiding and was last seen publicly in January 2025 when he accompanied Machado to an anti-Maduro rally.Machado had initially welcomed his release, writing on X on Sunday: “My dear Juan Pablo, counting down the minutes until I can hug you! You are a hero, and history will ALWAYS recognize it. Freedom for ALL political prisoners!!”Authorities began releasing detainees after Maduro’s capture by US special forces on January 3. Rights groups estimate that around 700 political prisoners remain in custody. NGO Foro Penal said it confirmed the release of 35 prisoners on Sunday, adding that nearly 400 people arrested for political reasons have been freed since January 8.The alleged abduction comes as lawmakers prepare to vote on a proposed amnesty law covering charges commonly used to jail dissidents during nearly three decades of socialist rule. However, Venezuela’s largest opposition coalition has criticised the draft legislation for what it called serious omissions.Meanwhile, acting president Delcy Rodriguez, who assumed office after Maduro’s removal, has promoted the amnesty bill as a step towards national reconciliation, even as families of detainees continue to demand the release of those still behind bars.
