Vice president of Venezuela’s opposition-controlled legislature detained in Caracas – report

The vice president of Venezuela’s National Assembly has reportedly been escorted to the HQ of the country’s intelligence agency. Opposition leader Juan Guaido accused Caracas of “kidnapping” the lawmaker.

Edgar Zambrano, the vice president of the opposition-controlled legislature, was apparently taken into custody by the Venezuelan authorities. The lawmaker tweeted Wednesday evening that he was approached by members of the SEBIN intelligence agency, who surrounded his car and demanded he leave the vehicle. Zambrano said that after he refused the order, the agents towed his car to the agency's main offices in Caracas.

Self-proclaimed ‘interim president’ Juan Guaido sounded the alarm over Zambrano’s alleged arrest, likening his detention to a “kidnapping.”

Zambrano tweeted that he was taken by “surprise” by the SEBIN agents near the office of his Democratic Action (Accion Democratica) party in the La Florida residential area east of Caracas around 6:35pm Wednesday.
The lawmaker, who is the second most senior member of the opposition after Guaido, was apprehended a day after he, along with six other lawmakers, was stripped of parliamentary immunity by the Supreme Court of Justice, loyal to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

The court suggested investigating Zambrano and the others for conspiracy, treason and rebellion after he allegedly continued to incite a military uprising following a failed coup attempt late April.

Zambrano blasted the court’s decision accusing it of an attempt to “illegally” breach his and fellow lawmakers’ right to immunity.

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