Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaido on Tuesday denounced the “enforced disappearance” of three of his collaborators since the flight of his mentor, Leopoldo Lopez, to Madrid after spending 18 months in the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas .
“Journalist Roland Carreño as well as Yeferson Sarcos and Elias Rodriguez have been missing for more than 12 hours,” tweeted the Speaker of Parliament, recognized as interim president by some fifty countries, including the United States.
The National College of Journalists (CNP) for its part assured that Mr. Carreño “is detained” at the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, in the capital Caracas.
“We condemn the campaign of discredit against the rule of law in Venezuela concerning the detention of Roland Carreño, arrested in flagrante delicto,” replied on Twitter the Venezuelan Minister of Communication and Information, Freddy Nañez.
Without mentioning Messrs Sarcos and Rodriguez, Freddy Nañez assured that Mr. Carreño “recognized his participation in offenses against the constitutional order aimed at calling into question the peace of the Republic”.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab for his part spoke on Twitter of a preliminary investigation linking Rolnd Carreño to “the importation of weapons of war and cash in order to promote violent actions” in the country.
Washington, the main supporter of Juan Guaido, denounced the “enforced disappearance” of Roland Carreño, operational coordinator of Voluntad Popular, the party of Leopoldo Lopez from which Mr. Guaido came.
The “disappearances” occurred after Leopoldo Lopez left for Spain on Sunday.
Sentenced to nearly 14 years in prison in 2015 for inciting violence during anti-government protests that killed 43 people and injured more than 3,000 between February and May 2014, Mr. Lopez was placed in 2017 under house arrest.
On April 30, 2019, he was released and participated in an attempt to overthrow Nicolas Maduro, approved by Mr. Guaido.
Failed by the army’s support for the Venezuelan president, Leopoldo Lopez had found refuge in the residence of the Spanish ambassador.
During a press conference in Madrid on Tuesday, Mr. Lopez denounced the fact that “in recent hours very close people have disappeared under the dictatorship”.