María Corina Machado, the opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, says one of her closest allies, Juan Pablo Guanipa, was kidnapped just hours after his release from prison in Caracas.
Machado posted on social media that heavily armed unidentified men in civilian clothes arrived in multiple vehicles around midnight in the Los Chorros neighborhood and violently seized Guanipa shortly after he walked free following more than eight months in detention.
His supporters and family are demanding proof of life and his immediate release.
The prisoner releases came as Venezuela’s government under Delcy Rodríguez has faced international pressure to free political detainees and after a visit by U.N. human rights officials. Rights groups confirmed that at least 30 political prisoners were released.
