Venezuela's chief prosecutor announced today that his office has requested the arrest of one of the closest allies of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, less than 12 hours after he was released from detention.
The statement from the state prosecutor did not specify whether Juan Pablo Guanipa had been rearrested or his current whereabouts. The government released him yesterday, along with several other prominent opposition members, after months of detention that was said to have been politically motivated.
The office of the Attorney General Tarek William Saba announced on social media that it had "asked the competent court to revoke the preventive measure granted to Juan Pablo Guanipa, due to non-compliance with the conditions set by said court."
It was not specified what conditions Gwanipa, a former opposition governor, allegedly violated during the hours he spent at large, but it was stated that the authorities are seeking to place him under house arrest.
Guanipa's son, Ramon, told reporters today that a group of men in three vehicles intercepted his father and several others in a neighborhood in the capital, Caracas. They were armed with long guns and wore civilian clothes and bulletproof vests.
Ramon Guanipa said authorities have not yet informed him of his father's whereabouts or the decision to place him under house arrest. He said his father has not violated two conditions of his release - the obligation to report to court monthly and the ban on traveling outside Venezuela. He showed reporters a court document outlining those conditions.
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