HRF condemns the arbitrary and violent detention of Venezuelan opposition leader @JuanPGuanipa, which came just hours after his release from prison. The Rodríguez regime must immediately release all political prisoners without attaching conditions that can be abused to silence dissent.

On Sunday, Juan Pablo Guanipa was violently kidnapped by a group of heavily armed agents without identification and was re-arrested mere hours after his release from prison. Guanipa had led a caravan with leading opposition activist @jesusarmasccs — released the same day — to detention centers to call on the regime to release all remaining prisoners of conscience.

The regime alleges that Guanipa violated the strict conditions of his release. Released dissidents are often prohibited from making public statements in an effort to continue to silence them. However, in Guanipa’s case, court records show that his only conditions were a travel ban and making regular appearances in court, further exposing the illegal and arbitrary nature of the regime’s persecution.

Releasing prisoners of conscience while imposing conditions designed to muzzle them renders the regime’s gestures void and disingenuous. All democracies must continue to press for an end to the repressive policies of Delcy Rodríguez and her accomplices and call for the immediate and unconditional release of all prisoners of conscience in Venezuela.