Machado ally is kidnapped in Venezuela hours after prison release, son says

February 8 (Reuters) – A prominent Venezuelan opposition politician was kidnapped in Caracas just hours after being released from prison on Sunday night, raising uncertainty about the government’s promise to release political prisoners, according to her son and Nobel Peace Prize winner Maria Corina ​Machado.

Juan Pablo Guanipa, a close ally of opposition leader Machado, was released early Sunday after months in hiding and more than eight months in prison on charges of leading a terrorist plot.

His release comes as U.S. pressure mounts a month after the Trump administration captured and deposed longtime leader Nicolas Maduro, following a promise from the Venezuelan government to pass amnesty legislation and release more prisoners.

Guanipa’s son, Ramon Guanipa, said in a video on social media that his father was ambushed by 10 heavily armed, unidentified people whom he called “authorities.”

“My father was kidnapped again,” he said. “I demand proof of life immediately.”

The Venezuelan government did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Guanipa’s disappearance following his release.

Machado, who won the Nobel Prize for his efforts to unseat Maduro, also called for Guanipa’s release.

“Heavily armed men in civilian clothes came with four vehicles and took him by force,” he said in his post on

Just hours earlier, the elder Guanipa had posted videos on social media of himself speaking to reporters and a crowd of cheering supporters. He called for the release of other political prisoners and said the current administration is illegitimate.

Maduro’s re-election in 2024 was widely viewed as fraudulent, and many countries, including the United States, did not recognize the legitimacy of his government.

Guanipa said in an interview with a local online outlet that he spoke briefly with Machado after his release and hoped to speak with him further the next day.

Venezuela’s opposition and human rights groups have said for years that the country’s socialist government is using detentions to destroy opposition.

The government denies holding political prisoners and says those in prison have committed crimes. Authorities say about 900 of those people have been released, but they are unclear on the timeline and appear to include releases from previous years. The government has not provided an official list of how many prisoners will be released or whose identities will be disclosed.

Rights group Foro Penal said 383 political prisoners have been released since the Venezuelan government announced it would begin a new round of releases on January 8. Sunday counted the release of 35 more people, including opposition politician Freddy Superlano and lawyer Perkins Rocha, close allies of Machado.

The group’s manager, Alfredo Romero, said on social media that they do not yet have clear information about who bought Guanipa.

(Reporting by Akanksha Khushi and ‌Daina Beth Solomon in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonali Paul and Lincoln Feast.)