Venezuelan opposition party Voluntad Popular denounced on Tuesday that its leader, Freddy Superlano, has been “kidnapped” by Venezuelan forces after being “forcibly removed” from his vehicle, an arrest that comes just days after the National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed the current president of the country, Nicolás Maduro, the winner of the presidential elections held on Sunday.
“We must responsibly denounce to the country that just a few minutes ago our National Political Coordinator, Freddy Superlano, was kidnapped. We alert the international community about an escalation of repression by the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro against activists of the democratic cause,” the party said in a message posted on its account on the social network X.
He stressed that the opposition is “peacefully” demanding the publication of the “electoral results that overwhelmingly declare President-elect Edmundo González the winner.”
Opposition member and member of Voluntad Popular Leopoldo López has also spoken out on this matter, stating that “Nicolás Maduro’s dictatorship shot him, crashed the vehicle and kidnapped Freddy Superlano.” “Of course, we denounce the attack, but beyond the denunciation I want to tell all my brothers of Voluntad Popular and all Venezuelans that (…) Freddy Superlano is strong, he is firm, he is determined, just like the people,” he asserted.
“We will continue forward. This will not stop us. It will not stop Voluntad Popular, those who have accompanied Freddy, or the Venezuelans who have decided to be free. Long live freedom and may we continue fighting for what is ours: a free Venezuela. Strength and faith,” he concluded.
