Venezuela arrests Freddy Guevara for ‘terrorism, treason’ | Juan Guaido News

Venezuelan prosecutors have announced allegations of “terrorism” and “betrayal” against a major opposition politician after he was arrested by his intelligence agents on his highway in Caracas.

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

“He will be charged with crimes of terrorism, assaults on the constitutional order, conspiracy to commit a crime and treason,” the document says.

Guevara, a close ally of opposition leader Juan Guaido, posted on social media the secret police inside the car while intercepting him on a highway in Caracas.

“Greetings to my family, I feel for living this suffering, I hope it will be short,” the 35-year-old said in a live performance.

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

The attorney general did not specify where he was arrested.

Separately, Guaido also said he was threatened with arrest by unidentified gunmen on Monday in an attempt to help Guevara leave his apartment.

In videos released in his office, two men in bulletproof vests and bulletproof vests appeared in the basement of Guaido’s building approaching his car and pointing assault rifles.

One of the men opened the driver’s door and forced the driver to the ground, the videos showing “Get out!” Shouting.

The Venezuelan Ministry of Information has not responded to the request for comment.

Lectures in Mexico

The incident happened when the Venezuelan government and the opposition were preparing for negotiations scheduled for next month in Mexico with the mediation of Norway, those familiar with the matter told Reuters news agency last week. The talks are aimed at resolving the deep political crisis in the South American country.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro has a bullet caught in recent clashes between police and gangs, according to authorities, in a televised speech in Caracas. [Miraflores Palace/Handout via Reuters]

President Nicolas Maduro, in a state television appearance on Monday, confirmed the negotiation plans, but said the opposition must renounce violent tactics before the talks. Without naming Guevara or Guaido, he said he had evidence that some of the actors were exchanging coups and that prosecutors acted according to that evidence.

“I agree with the table in Mexico and Norway, but the conditions must be met, violent practices must be abandoned,” Maduro said.

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

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

“Some of these sectors … we have forgiven them for the above reasons, but they are forgiven … and they immediately join in the search for criminals, paying violent groups and preparing for the killings,” he said.

The U.S.-backed opposition names Maduro dictator, who revived the 2018 election and uses the justice system to stifle dissent. Maduro, who maintains military support, has denied that the election was rigged, and has accused Guaido of conspiring with the U.S. to remove him in a coup.

‘Threats will not stop us’

When news of Guevara’s arrest spread, Fabua Rosales, Guaido’s wife, tweeted that security forces had entered his apartment building in eastern Caracas.

Today we are living in hours of anguish, siege, harassment, attempted arrest of the president today in the basement of my home, persecution, murder and imprisonment are signs of dictatorship, today they have thrown long guns at my house. pic.twitter.com/jR8pqETrhE

– Fabiana Rosales (@FabiiRosales) July 13, 2021

Journalists arrived a few minutes later and neighbors gathered in protest around two white trucks marked with men with braked vests and assault rifles. Some were sitting on balaclavas inside.

Others wore hats that said DIE – the Spanish acronym for the Intelligence and Strategy Directorate police unit.

Shortly afterwards, he pulled out of the garage in the basement without marking a gray Toyota truck full of police, leaving the residential complex.

Residents of opposition leader Juan Guaido on July 12, 2021, ran their hands against an SUV carrying alleged government officials leaving the parking lot of the Caracas leader’s residence. [Federico Parra/ AFP]

Then Guaido got out of a SUV and told reporters that the man had left. He said it was not clear which security forces they belonged to.

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

The US denounced the actions against Guevara and Guaido.

“We strongly condemn the arrest of Venezuelan lawmaker Freddy Guevara and threats against interim President Juan Guaido in Venezuela,” Julie Chung, assistant secretary of the U.S. Department of State’s Western Hemisphere Office, wrote on Twitter.

He called on the international community to join in condemning the actions and called for the release of all Venezuelan political prisoners.