A close ally of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado was placed under house arrest Tuesday, detained just hours after his release from prison along with other dissidents jailed under ousted leader Nicolas Maduro.
Juan Pablo Guanipa, a former National Assembly vice president, walked out of jail on Sunday after spending more than eight months behind bars on vague charges of the kind often leveled against government critics, including “terrorism,” money laundering and inciting violence.
The 61-year-old was released with other political prisoners under a promise made by interim leader Delcy Rodriguez, who filled Maduro’s shoes after his toppling in a deadly US military raid in January.
During his few hours of freedom, Guanipa met relatives of other political prisoners, toured Caracas in a motorcycle caravan, shouted slogans outside the feared Helicoide prison, and demanded new elections.
After he was taken back into custody, prosecutors said Guanipa had violated his parole conditions.
The news sparked an outcry, with Machado claiming he had been “kidnapped,” and a US congresswoman warning of “grave consequences” if anything happened to him.
On Tuesday, the former lawmaker’s son Ramon wrote on X that his father was placed under house arrest in Maracaibo, in Venezuela’s northwest, and thanked the United States “for its efforts in support of freedom in Venezuela.”
“My father remains unjustly imprisoned, because house arrest is still imprisonment, and we demand his full freedom and that of all political prisoners,” the younger Guanipa wrote.
– ‘Amnesty now!’ –
Guanipa’s re-arrest sent a chilling message to those pushing for democratic reforms, and for Machado, who is pondering a return to her homeland from exile in the United States.
It came as Venezuela’s parliament is set to vote on an amnesty for political prisoners and those who put them behind bars during 27 years under Maduro and his predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
Rodriguez, who had served as Maduro’s vice president before taking his place, has been working with the United States, including granting access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves, and freeing political detainees.
But the releases have not been quick or widespread enough, according to loved ones of hundreds of dissidents and critics still behind bars.
On Tuesday, about 40 relatives of political prisoners protested outside the National Assembly building to demand the amnesty bill be passed without delay.
“Amnesty now!” they chanted as riot police looked on. “Not one a criminal, they are all innocent,” shouted others.
Postponed from Tuesday, the unicameral parliament is scheduled to meet again Thursday, though it was not clear if the bill was on the agenda.
According to Andreina Baduel, head of the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners (Clippve), the postponement of Tuesday’s sitting only served to “prolong the victims’ pain.”
She herself is the daughter of a former defense minister who died in prison in 2021, and the sister of another political prisoner held for “terrorism.”
“The bill does not ensure that there will be justice,” Baduel said on Tuesday.
“State terrorism persists in Venezuela,” she added, referring to Guanipa’s re-arrest.
By Monday, 426 people had been freed since prison releases began after Maduro’s toppling, according to the NGO Foro Penal.
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