Venezuela Opposition leaders Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma were taken from their homes by intelligence agents in the early hours of Tuesday morning, their family members alleged, reported CNN. The Opposition condemned the detentions and termed them as “kidnappings”. They also said the whereabouts of the two men were currently unknown.
The two were under house arrest before they were taken away. “We do not know where he is or where he is being taken,” Lopez’s wife Lilian Tintori tweeted on early Tuesday morning. “[President Nicolas] Maduro is responsible if something happens to him.”
She also included a video of what appears to be her husband being led into a vehicle by alleged members of Venezuela’s intelligence agency.
“12:27 in the morning: the moment when the dictatorship kidnaps Leopoldo at my house,” she said in another tweet.
Ledezma’s daughter, Oriette, blamed the current regime in a video statement. “We do not know where he was taken,” Oriette said. “A group of men came with their faces concealed and in camouflage and they took him. They have kidnapped him once again. We hold the regime responsible for his life and physical integrity.”
Controversial election
The United States on Monday had imposed sanctions on the Venezuelan government, a day after President Nicolas Maduro won a controversial election giving his government more power. The sanctions banned any US citizens from doing business with Maduro, and froze Maduro’s assets in their country.
Maduro and his aides claimed 40% of Venezuelans voted in the polls, while Opposition activists said the real figure was only around 12%.
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