Juan Pablo Guanipa says he is protected after third arrest attempt
Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa said he was safe after a “third arrest attempt” against him, at the end of a protest in Caracas against the Supreme Court ruling that validated the controversial reelection of Nicolás Maduro in the presidential elections on July 28.
“I feel outraged. Why do we have to be subjected to this in today’s Venezuela? Why do we have to be acting as if we were criminals? Why do we have to be fleeing? Why do we have to be taking shelter?” he said in a video posted on X.
He accused Maduro of “bloody persecution” after the electionswhose official results – announced by the National Electoral Council (CNE) – are rejected by the main opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), which insists on the victory of its standard-bearer, Edmundo González Urrutia.
This is until the end.
Long live free Venezuela! pic.twitter.com/BGb6uPENik
— Juan Pablo Guanipa (@JuanPGuanipa) August 28, 2024
“There are so many people detained, children, young people, people with disabilities, women, that one wonders how is it possible, what is happening to Nicolás Maduro, what has he become (…) and why do we Venezuelans have to be in this situation,” said Guanipa, one of the main collaborators of the leader of the PUD.
Guanipa asks to continue the fight
The former deputy called for “continuing” the “fight” to “defeat these people” and to begin a “great process of transformation” in order to “enable the country to reconnect with institutions, democracy and freedom.”
On Wednesday, opposition leader María Corina Machado denounced the arrest of the coordinator of the Convergencia party, Biagio Pilieri, and his son Jesús Pilieri, after the demonstration in Caracas.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) warned on the same day of an increase in “repression” and “arbitrary use of force” in Venezuela, as well as arrests that include minors after the presidential elections on July 28.
According to official figures, more than 2,400 people have been arrested since July 29 – some in demonstrations and others in police operations – and 25 have been killed in acts of violence that the government attributes to the opposition, while anti-Chavez supporters blame the state security forces, on orders from their superiors.
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