Venezuela: Maduro's regime arrests Juan Pablo Guanipa, ally of Maria Corina Machado

Juan Pablo Guanipa, a former opposition deputy and ally of María Corina Machado, was detained in Caracas by security forces of the Chavista regime, Interior Minister Goddado Cabello announced on Friday.

Guanipa was detained on Friday morning, after spending several months in hiding.

Cabello stated, "We have captured one of the leaders of this powerful terrorist group. Not powerful. Tenebrous terrorist group." 

During a press conference, the regime’s Interior Minister showed a video of Guanipa’s arrest, in which the opposition leader is seen wearing a bulletproof vest while being handcuffed by uniformed Chavista officers.

According to Cabello, "he declared himself the leader of this terrorist network that is attempting to sabotage [the country], using terminology favored by these extremist sectors." 

"He boasted, he mocked, he believed he was untouchable—invincible. But the Venezuelan State’s security agencies have proven, through their efficiency, that no one is untouchable," added the Chavista minister.

Cabello also stated that they had found "notebooks and agendas that reveal everything—groups, sources of financing, and locations of planned terrorist acts."

"From here on, what he has to do is to be accountable to justice," he said.

Guanipa was charged with terrorism, money laundering and incitement to violence and hatred.

A message appeared shortly thereafter posted on Guanipa's X account: "If you are reading this it is because I have been kidnapped by the forces of Nicolás Maduro's regime."

"I am not sure what will happen to me in the coming hours, days and weeks. But what I am sure of is that we will win the long struggle against the dictatorship," he added in the text.

Machado also reacted on the social network: "This is pure and simple STATE TERRORISM," she wrote. "Guanipa is a BRAVE and INTEGRAL man. He is my partner and my brother."