Venezuela Arrests Freddy Guevara for “Terrorism, Treason” | Juan Guaido News

Venezuelan prosecutors have announced “terrorism” and “treason” charges against a prominent opposition politician after intelligence agents stopped him in his car on a Caracas highway.

In a statement released Monday, Attorney General Tarek Saab said Freddy Guevara had been arrested by members of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) because of “his links to extremist and paramilitary groups associated with the Colombian government”.

“He will be charged with crimes of terrorism, attacks on constitutional order, conspiracy to commit a crime and treason,” the statement said.

Guevara, a close ally of opposition leader Juan Guaido, posted on social media from inside his car as secret police intercepted him on a Caracas highway.

“Hello family, I am so sorry that you are going through this suffering, I hope it is brief,” the 35-year-old said on a live broadcast.

A spokesperson for Guaido’s office said Guevara, who was pardoned less than a year ago for inciting violence in 2017, was taken to the Helicoide prison of the Sebin intelligence service in Caracas.

The attorney general did not specify where he was being held.

Opposition leader Juan Guaido speaks to reporters in the parking lot of his residence in Caracas, July 12, 2021 [Federico Parra/ AFP]

Separately, Guaido also said unidentified gunmen threatened him with arrest earlier on Monday as he tried to leave his apartment in an attempt to help Guevara.

Videos released by his office showed at least two men wearing bulletproof vests and balaclavas in the basement of Guaido’s apartment building approaching his car and pointing assault rifles.

One of the men opened the driver’s door and forced him to the ground, shouting “Get out! », Showed the videos.

The Venezuelan Information Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

Mexico talks

The incidents took place as the Venezuelan government and the opposition prepare for negotiations scheduled for next month in Mexico with Norway’s mediation, people familiar with the matter told Reuters news agency last week. The talks aim to resolve the deep political crisis in the South American country.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro holds a bullet, seized during recent clashes between police and gangs according to authorities, during a televised address in Caracas [Miraflores Palace/Handout via Reuters]

President Nicolas Maduro, in an appearance on state television on Monday, confirmed negotiating plans but said the opposition should back off violent tactics ahead of talks. Without naming Guevara or Guaido, he said he had evidence that some actors were plotting coups and said prosecutors acted on that evidence.

“I agree with the table of Mexico and Norway, but there must be conditions, there must be an express waiver of violent practices,” Maduro said.

The Venezuelan government has previously linked Guevara and his political mentor Leopoldo Lopez, who is now in exile in Spain, to violent clashes last week in a neighborhood of Caracas that left at least 26 dead.

“They want to dress up as Democrats,” but “they ally themselves with criminals,” Maduro said without directly mentioning Guevara’s case.

“Some of these sectors… we have pardoned them for previous causes, but they are pardoned… and they immediately join in the search for criminals, paying for violent groups and planning assassinations,” he said. .

The US-backed opposition calls Maduro a dictator, alleging he rigged his 2018 re-election and uses the court system to stifle dissent. But Maduro, who retains military support, denies the election was rigged and accused Guaido of plotting with the United States to impeach him in a coup.

“Threats are not going to stop us”

As news of Guevara’s arrest broke, Guaido’s wife Fabiana Rosales tweeted that security forces had entered their apartment building east of Caracas.

Today we are living through hours of anguish, the siege, the persecution, the attempted arrest of the President today in the basement of my house, these are the signs of a dictatorship which persecutes, murders and imprison , today they fired long guns at my house. pic.twitter.com/jR8pqETrhE

– Fabiana Rosales (@FabiiRosales) July 13, 2021

Journalists arrived at the scene minutes later and neighbors gathered to protest around two unmarked white trucks with men wearing bulletproof vests and assault rifles, some in balaclavas sat inside .

Others wore hats that said DIE – the Spanish acronym for the Police Unit of the Directorate of Intelligence and Strategy.

Shortly after, an unmarked gray Toyota truck filled with police officers raced out of the basement garage, leaving the residential complex.

Neighbors of opposition leader Juan Guaido clap their hands on an SUV carrying suspected government officials leaving the parking lot of the leader’s residence in Caracas on July 12, 2021 [Federico Parra/ AFP]

Guaido then got out of an SUV and told reporters the men were gone. He said it was not clear which branch of the security forces they belonged to.

“They intercepted us and pointed their guns at us in the basement,” Guaido said.

The United States denounced the actions against Guevara and Guaido.

“We strongly condemn the arrest of Venezuelan Congressman Freddy Guevara and the threats against Acting President Juan Guaido in Venezuela,” Julie Chung, Acting Deputy Secretary of the Department’s Office of Western Hemisphere Affairs, wrote on Twitter. of American state.

She urged the international community to join in the condemnation of the acts and called for the release of all political prisoners in Venezuela.