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Juan Guaidó says Venezuelan agents arrested his chief of staff Juan Guaidó says Venezuelan agents arrested his chief of staff
(about 4 hours later)
The Venezuelan opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, has said intelligence agents arrested his chief of staff after a pre-dawn raid, signalling that President Nicolás Maduro may be cracking down on the opposition’s challenge to his rule. Masked intelligence agents have arrested a key aide of Venezuela’s opposition leader Juan Guaidó, in an apparent sign that the embattled president Nicolás Maduro may be cracking down on challenges to his rule.
Guaidó invoked the constitution in January to assume the interim presidency after declaring Maduro’s 2018 re-election a fraud, and he has been recognised by dozens of western nations as the country’s legitimate leader. Dozens of officers from the Sebin intelligence service broke down the door of Roberto Marrero’s home early on Thursday and took him to the Helicoide, a notorious political prison overlooking Caracas. The home of opposition legislator Sergio Vergara was also raided.
Maduro, who has overseen a dramatic collapse of the country’s economy, has called Guaidó a puppet of the United States and said he should “face justice”, but has not explicitly ordered his arrest. Guaidó, who has been recognised by the United States and 50 other nations as Venezuela’s legitimate leader, told reporters that the crackdown was a sign of Maduro’s “weakness”.
“They have kidnapped @robertomarrero, my chief of staff,” Guaidó tweeted, adding the Caracas residences of Marrero and an opposition legislator, Sergio Vergara, had been raided before dawn. “We do not know his whereabouts. He should be freed immediately.” “As they cannot take the interim president prisoner, so they seek out people closest to him, threaten relatives, carry out kidnappings,” he said.
Secuestraron a @ROBERTOMARRERO, jefe de mi despacho. El denunció a viva voz que le sembraron dos fusiles y una granada, se lo dijo al diputado @SergioVergaraG, su vecino. El procedimiento comenzó a las 2 am aprox. Desconocemos su paradero. Debe ser liberado de inmediato. Maduro, who has overseen a dramatic collapse of Venezuela’s economy, has said Guaidó should “face justice”, but has not explicitly ordered his arrest.
Venezuela’s information ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The US quickly condemned Marrero’s arrest, which was defined by Donald Trump’s national security adviser, John Bolton, as a “big mistake”.
Guaidó travelled around South America in February to drum up diplomatic support for his government, defying a travel ban imposed by the pro-government supreme court. He re-entered the country via Venezuela’s principal airport this month without being detained by immigration officials. Maduro has made another big mistake. The illegitimate arrest of Roberto Marrero, Interim President Juan Guaidó’s aide, will not go unanswered. He should be released immediately and his safety guaranteed.
Dozens of countries including the US, major European powers and most South American nations have backed Guaidó and declared Maduro’s rule illegitimate. “The illegitimate arrest of Roberto Marrero, Interim President Juan Guaidó’s aide, will not go unanswered. He should be released immediately and his safety guaranteed,” he tweeted.
Venezuela is reeling from annual inflation topping 2m per cent, which has fuelled malnutrition and preventable disease and spurred an exodus of more than 3 million citizens since 2015. The secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, said on Twitter that the US “will hold accountable those involved”.
Maduro has said his government is the victim of an “economic war” led by his political adversaries and has blamed US financial and oil sector sanctions for the country’s situation. Marrero described the raid in a voicemail message forwarded by Guaidó’s team. “I am in my house and the Sebin is here. Unfortunately, they have come for me. Keep up the fight, don’t stop and look after [Guaidó],” Marrero said. Photographs that circulated on social media showed Morrero’s house in disarray after the raid.
Marrero had previously worked as a lawyer for Leopoldo López, a well-connected opposition leader thought to be the architect of Guaidó’s rise, who was arrested in 2014 after leading protests against Maduro. López has been under house arrest since July 2017.
Barter and dollars the new reality as Venezuela battles hyperinflation
At a protest outside the Sebin headquarters, the parliamentarian Guillermo Luces said: “This is an attack against the free world that supports our president Juan Guaidó.”
Luisa Ortega, the country’s former chief prosecutor who broke with Maduro in August 2017, also denounced the arrest. “The tyranny today began the execution of a plan of progressive arrests and the sowing of evidence against leaders of the opposition.”
The move against Marrero follows a fact-finding mission by the United Nations’ top human rights official, Michelle Bachelet, who accused Maduro of clamping down on dissent.
“Whenever there is the presence of the international community the government of the usurper Maduro reacts with this type of activity,” Luces said.
Since January, Venezuelan authorities have arrested over 1,000 people in connection with anti-government demonstrations, most of them arbitrarily, rights groups say.
On Wednesday, Bachelet also warned the UN human rights council that recent US sanctions on Maduro’s inner circle threaten to deepen Venezuela’s crisis, but she said that the country’s “pervasive and devastating economic and social crisis” started before the US first levied sanctions.
Venezuela’s economy has collapsed over recent years, with hyperinflation rendering the currency useless while shortages in food staples and medicines are commonplace.
The country has been mired in a political crisis since late January when Juan Guaidó, a previously unknown politician, declared himself the legitimate interim president.
Maduro, who retains the support of the country’s armed forces, has repeatedly denied the existence of a crisis in his country, blaming instability on an “economic war” waged by the US.
Juan GuaidóJuan Guaidó
VenezuelaVenezuela
AmericasAmericas
Nicolás MaduroNicolás Maduro
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