Close ally of Machado was ‘kidnapped hours after release from prison’

Venezuela’s opposition leader claims ‘heavily armed men’ took Juan Pablo Guanipa away

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Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado claims that a close ally has been kidnapped, just hours after he was released from prison.

The government released several prominent opposition members on Sunday.

Machado said on social media that Juan Pablo Guanipa was abducted around midnight in a residential neighborhood of the capital, Caracas.

“Heavily armed men, dressed in civilian clothes, arrived in four vehicles and violently took him away,” she posted on X.

“We demand his immediate release.”

Guanipa and others were released following growing pressure on acting President Delcy Rodríguez to free those whose detention is linked to their political activities.

It also comes after representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights visited Venezuela.

The government’s press office did not immediately respond to a request for comment early Monday.

Rodríguez was sworn in as Venezuela’s acting president after the January 3 capture of then-President Nicolás Maduro by the U.S. military. Her government began releasing prisoners days later.

Some of those freed Sunday joined families waiting outside prisons for their loved ones to be released. They chanted “We are not afraid! We are not afraid!” and marched a short distance.

“I am convinced that our country has completely changed,” Guanipa, a former governor, had told reporters hours after his release.

“I am convinced that it is now up to all of us to focus on building a free and democratic country.”

Guanipa had spent more than eight months in custody.

Venezuelan-based prisoners’ rights group Foro Penal confirmed the release of at least 30 people Sunday.

In addition to Guanipa, Machado’s political organization said several of its members were among the released, including María Oropeza, who livestreamed her arrest by military intelligence officers as they broke into her home with a crowbar.

Machado’s attorney, Perkins Rocha, was also freed.

Alfredo Romero, president of Foro Penal, expressed serious concern over Guanipa's disappearance.

“So far, we have no clear information about who took him,” he said on X.

“We hope he will be released immediately.”