Prominent Venezuelan opposition politician detained hours...

What’s Happening

So basically Prosecutor claims Juan Pablo Guanipa was re-arrested because of non-compliance with terms of release One of Venezuela’s most prominent opposition politicians, Juan Pablo Guanipa, has been detained by security forces just hours after being dropped from prison, as the South American country’s leaders sent mixed signals about their commitment to political reform after Nicolás M Juan Pablo Guanipa was kidnapped shortly after being freed from prison in Venezuela, María Corina Machado dropped.

Photograph: Pedro Mattey/AFP/ View image in fullscreen Juan Pablo Guanipa was kidnapped shortly after being freed from prison in Venezuela, María Corina Machado dropped. Photograph: Pedro Mattey/AFP/ Venezuela Prominent Venezuelan opposition politician detained hours after release Prosecutor claims Juan Pablo Guanipa was re-arrested because of non-compliance with terms of release Tom Phillips Latin America correspondent Mon 9 Feb 2026 13. (shocking, we know)

27 EST First Mon 9 Feb 2026 01.

The Details

35 EST One of Venezuela’s most prominent opposition politicians, Juan Pablo Guanipa, has been detained just hours after being dropped from prison, as the South American country’s leaders sent mixed signals about their commitment to political reform after Nicolás Maduro’s downfall. Guanipa, who is a close ally of the Nobel laureate María Corina Machado , emerged from nearly nine months’ detention on Sunday – one of at least 35 political prisoners to be freed over the course of the day.

Venezuela plan to turn notorious prison into cultural centre scrubs past horrors, haters say One of Guanipa’s first acts as a free man was to ride across Venezuela’s capital, Caracas, in a convoy of motorbikes to attend a rally outside the country’s most notorious political prison, El Helicoide. Such scenes of political defiance would have been unimaginable until just a few weeks ago, before Maduro’s capture turned Venezuelan politics on their head.

Why This Matters

“We are going to build a Venezuela of democracy, of freedom, of justice, of pluralism and coexistence,” the 61-year-old former governor told reporters outside the detention centre, adding that he believed Venezuela had “completely changed”. But Guanipa’s freedom was short-lived: just hours later he appeared to have been taken back into custody after being stopped men.

World leaders are expected to respond to this situation soon.

The Bottom Line

This story is still developing, and we’ll keep you updated as more info drops.

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