Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado stated that her colleague Juan Pablo Guanipa was kidnapped mere hours after being freed from detention. The leader of the Justice First party was taken in the Los Chorros neighbourhood of Caracas by heavily armed men dressed in civilian clothes, as reported by Machado on social media.
Guanipa, a former vice-president of the National Assembly, had recently spent eight months in prison and was among several political prisoners released after the U.S. seized power from Venezuela's then-President Nicolas Maduro earlier this year.
Perturbed by the abduction, Guanipa's party condemned the act as a move executed by the repressive forces of the dictatorship. Eyewitnesses reported that those accompanying Guanipa were threatened with weapons before he was forcibly taken away.
Justice First expressed responsibility towards Venezuelan officials Delcy Rodríguez, Jorge Rodríguez, and Diosdado Cabello for any harm that may come to Guanipa while demanding his immediate release and an end to the government’s harassment of political dissenters.
Just hours before his abduction, Guanipa's son was celebrating his father's freedom online, saying, Our entire family will be able to hug again soon. His release was one of at least 30 during a recent wave of political prisoner releases, according to Foro Penal, known for assisting political prisoners in the country.
Guanipa had previously been barred from taking office as governor of the Zulia region after refusing to swear an oath to Maduro's National Constituent Assembly. Following accusations of terrorism and treason for his opposition to the 2024 election results, he had gone into hiding, only to be captured by Venezuelan security forces in May 2025.
Opposition and human rights organizations have long alleged that the Maduro government used detentions as a tactic to quash dissent and silence critics.
