Machado says ally Juan Pablo Guanipa kidnapped after prison release

Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said one of her closest allies was kidnapped hours after being released from prison. Machado said on social media that Juan Pablo Guanipa was taken around midnight in a residential neighbourhood 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, a former governor, had spent more than eight months in custody. Hours after his release he told reporters: "I am convinced that our country has completely changed.

I am convinced that it is now up to all of us to focus on building a free and democratic country." His son Ramón said his father was "intercepted and kidnapped" by "a group of approximately 10 unidentified people" and described three vehicles involved. The prisoners' rights group Foro Penal said it had no clear information about who took him and called for his immediate release; the group also confirmed at least 30 people were freed on Sunday.

Venezuela, Caracas

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