Freddy Superlano, a top leader of opposition leader María Corina Machado’s Voluntad Popular party, was arrested Tuesday by officials of the Maduro regime in Caracas.
A video posted on social media showed Superlano being forcibly put into a vehicle in the Sebucan urbanization in the Venezuelan capital by officers dressed in black.
Superlano’s arrest was reported by Voluntad Popular through the social network X. The opposition party warned the international community about “an escalation of repression” by the Maduro regime against “activists of the democratic cause.”
“We must responsibly denounce to the country that just a few minutes ago our National Political Coordinator Freddy Superlano was kidnapped,” he said.
“We alert the international community about an escalation of repression by the dictatorship of Nicolás Maduro against activists of the democratic cause, who peacefully demand the publication of the electoral results that OVERWHELMINGLY declare our elected president Edmundo González the winner.”
Following Superlano’s arrest, a video from early July circulated again in which Diosdado Cabello, first vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), threatened to arrest a leader with the initials FS for “hate speech,” a threat that was at the time interpreted as being directed at Superlano.
So far, no government official has commented on the arrest.
Maximum tension
Superlano’s arrest comes amid heightened tensions in Venezuela. New protests were expected on Tuesday after four people died and dozens were injured when authorities broke up protests against Maduro’s declaration of victory in elections deemed fraudulent.
Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets on Monday at angry protesters challenging official results, which have been questioned by the opposition and neighbouring countries.
Thousands of people flooded the streets of several neighborhoods in the capital, Caracas, chanting “Freedom, freedom!” and “This government is going to fall!”
Some tore down and burned Maduro campaign posters, while at least two statues of Hugo Chavez – the late authoritarian socialist who led Venezuela for more than a decade and appointed Maduro as his successor – were torn down by protesters.
In addition to the dead, 44 people were injured, according to the National Hospital Survey, a network that monitors crises in the country’s hospitals.
Two of the dead were in Aragua state and one in Caracas, the network said. The NGO Foro Penal reported one more death in the northwestern state of Yaracuy.
Independent polls had predicted Maduro would lose Sunday’s vote.
Maduro has been at the helm of the once oil-rich country since 2013. Amid U.S. sanctions and economic mismanagement, GDP has fallen by 80% over the past decade, pushing more than seven million of Venezuela’s 30 million citizens to emigrate.
Maduro is accused of locking up critics and harassing the opposition in a climate of growing authoritarianism.
On the eve of the election, he warned of a “bloodbath” if he lost the election.
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