The family of Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa demanded a life of faith after his kidnapping on Sunday night by armed and unidentified individuals.The event occurred in the Los Chorros neighborhood of Caracas, hours after the politician was released from prison after almost nine months of detention for political reasons.
At a press conference on Monday morning, Ramón Guanipa, son of the leader, publicly claimed: “Speaking, declaring and expressing oneself is not a crime and we cannot continue allowing ourselves to be punished for it.”He noted that his father was arrested again just for giving statements after having regained his freedom, and denounced that “they need political prisoners to come out and lock themselves in their homes as if they were hermits. How long is it going to be a crime to speak in this country?”He added that the family demands immediate faith in life and held the Venezuelan regime responsible for the integrity of Juan Pablo Guanipa.
In previous statements, broadcast during the early hours of Monday through a video and a statement on social networks, Ramón Guanipa said that his father was intercepted by a group of approximately ten armed people, who arrived in a silver Corolla, a white Range Rover and a Renault Symbol. “They targeted them, they were heavily armed and they took my father away. I demand proof of life immediately and I hold the regime responsible for anything that happens to my father. Enough of so much repression,” he expressed.
Guanipa’s kidnapping was also denounced by opposition leader María Corina Machado, who demanded his immediate release and warned that armed men dressed in civilian clothes violently removed him from his vehicle.Guanipa’s family, close to Machado, insisted on the urgency of obtaining information about his whereabouts.
Earlier, the Public Ministry reported in a statement spread on social networks that it requested the revocation of the precautionary measure that allowed Guanipa’s freedom, alleging “non-compliance with the conditions imposed by the jurisdictional body.”The organization requested the transfer of the opposition leader to a regime of house detention.The statement stressed that “the precautionary measures agreed upon by the courts are conditional on strict compliance with the imposed obligations” and that non-compliance enables judges to revoke or replace judicial benefits.
The Public Ministry also invoked the context of the consultation of the Amnesty Law and the Democratic Coexistence Program as part of a process of “national unity and reconciliation.”However, Guanipa’s family and sectors of the opposition questioned the contradictions between these announcements and the persistence of arrests of leaders for political reasons.
Juan Pablo Guanipa had been arrested on May 23, 2025 during a series of operations against allies of María Corina Machado.The then Minister of the Interior, Diosdado Cabello, presented him on state television as the alleged “head” of a network intended to “sabotage” the presidential elections of July 2024, following complaints of electoral fraud made by the opposition.In the capture operation, broadcast by official media, Guanipa appeared handcuffed, wearing a bulletproof vest and escorted by agents of the Bolivarian National Police.
After his release on Sunday afternoon, Guanipa had published a video in which he stated: “Here we are, being released after a year and a half, ten months in hiding, almost nine months detained here. Today we are being released. A lot to talk about the present and the future of Venezuela. Always with the truth ahead.”
The leader remained incommunicado for several days after his first arrest, without immediate access to family or lawyers, and was transferred to police stations on several occasions.His current whereabouts remain unknown, while his family and allies demand answers and his release.
