Juan Guaidó's team denounces two new arrests of its members

• Click to share on Facebook (Opens in a new window)
• Click to share on Twitter (Opens in a new window)
• Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in a new window)
• Click to email a friend (Opens in a new window)

File Image. (Credit: FEDERICO PARRA / AFP via Getty Images)

(CNN Spanish) - The communications center of the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, denounced this Thursday that members of the Military Counterintelligence Directorate (DGCIM) detained two members of his team in Caracas: Demóstenes Quijada, advisor, and Maury Carrero, assistant to Luis Somaza, a trusted man from Guaidó. These apprehensions were registered in different points of the Venezuelan capital.

CNN contacted the Ministry of Communication and Information for more details, but has not yet received a response. Communication was also established with the Public Ministry, which so far has not ruled on the case.

Humberto Prado, Presidential Commissioner for Human Rights and Attention to Victims appointed by Guaidó, stated on Twitter that he will report the situation to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, and to the Executive Secretary of the IACHR. , Paulo Abrão.

According to the Guaidó communication center, there are already 10 members of his team detained by the security forces, five of them in the last hours. Rómulo García and Victor Silio, who work for Rafael Rico, a member of the Guaidó logistics team, were arrested on March 29 in Tahona, eastern Caracas, and, according to information published by the Special Actions Forces (FAES) in the security procedure found marijuana and a firearm.

So far, no public statement has been generated on the case.

These arrests occur the day Juan Guaidó had been summoned to testify to the prosecution for "attempted coup and assassination." Venezuela's attorney general, Tarek William Saab, had made the announcement Tuesday in a televised statement.

Guaidó, recognized as interim president of Venezuela by more than 50 countries, rejected the summons from the Attorney General's Office. In an interview with the EVTV channel, he said: “My constitutional prerogatives as president of Parliament and president-in-charge do not give any function, much less to a usurper to quote me. I should cite, for example, those who are accused of drug trafficking. " Recall that Guaidó's parliamentary immunity was waived on April 2, 2019 by the contested National Constituent Assembly and not in Parliament as established in the Constitution, which is why the legislators consider that such action was illegal.

The Venezuelan government has repeatedly accused Guaidó of being involved in conspiracies to overthrow the questioned President Nicolás Maduro. The opposition leader has in the past dismissed those accusations that he even refers to as "stories" or "novels."

ComplaintsDetentionsJuan GuaidóNicolás Maduro