Venezuelan Opposition Leader Juan Pablo Guanipa Reportedly Abducted Hours After Release From Jail

CARACAS. Influential Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa was abducted by an armed group just hours after being released from jail. Guanipa's family and political allies claimed that ten plainclothes armed men took him into custody in the Las Charros area of Caracas on Sunday night.

Guanipa, 61, who was arrested last May on charges of involvement in an alleged terrorist plot, was freed from prison on Sunday evening. Immediately after leaving jail, he released a video on social media proclaiming that he would continue fighting for truth for the future of Venezuela. However, before he could celebrate, the vehicle he was traveling in was surrounded by unknown individuals arriving in four cars, who forcibly took him away.

Guanipa's son, Ramon, stated that his father was ambushed by agents without identification who pointed guns at him. He demanded that the administration make his father's condition public and show proof that he is alive. 

Guanipa's party, Primero Justicia, has accused the current regime of being behind the abduction. It holds interim President Delcy Rodriguez, National Assembly Speaker Jorge Rodriguez, and Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello responsible for Guanipa's safety.

Currently, an interim government led by Rodriguez is in place in Venezuela after former powerful leader Nicolas Maduro was arrested by US special forces. Guanipa was released as part of a process to free political prisoners under pressure from the US administration. 

Nobel laureate and opposition leader Maria Corina Machado expressed serious concern over this incident.