Venezuelan Opposition Leaders Antonio Ledezma and Leopoldo López Re-Arrested in Middle of the Night

EspañolVenezuelan opposition leaders and former political prisoners Leopoldo López and Antonio Ledezma were taken back into custody this Tuesday, August 1. Members of the Venezuelan Intelligence Service re-arrested both of them at their respective homes in the middle of the night just two days after the regime successfully held illegal elections that gave it power over a newly created legislative branch.

Ledezma, 62, the former Mayor of Caracas, had been under house arrest since 2015 for allegedly supporting an attempted coup. On July 31, he uploaded a video on Youtube calling Maduro’s elections a fraud. His wife captured a video of the arrest:

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#URGENTE Momento en que Sebin se lleva de su casa a Antonio Ledezma, horas después de publicar un video #1Ago cortesía pic.twitter.com/iIh9E5Dax5

— Elyangelica González (@ElyangelicaNews) August 1, 2017

Elyangelica Gonzalez

@ElyangelicaNews
#URGENTE The exact moment when Sebin captured Antonio Ledezma, hours after he shared a video. Cortesia of #1Ago

https://twitter.com/RichardBlancoOf/status/892247541227683840

Dip.Richard Blanco

@RichardBlancoOf
Sebin just took Ledezma . Let the whole world know.

URGENTE
SEBIN se lleva a @alcaldeledezma de su casa (tenia casa por cárcel) sin destino conocido, entraron por el mas de 10 funcionarios
RT

— Sergio Contreras B:. (@SContrerasB) August 1, 2017

Sergio Contreras B:.

@SContrerasB
URGENT
SEBIN captures @alcaldeledezma in his home (he was under house arrest) taking him to an unknown location, more than 10 officers came for him.
RT

López, 42, had only been placed on house arrest this July 8 after serving prison time since September 2015 for inciting violence. He leads the People’s Will party, and also uploaded a video the day of the election denouncing Maduro’s actions, which he has repeatedly claimed undermine the country’s constitution. At 12:27 a.m., officials arrived to his home, where a video of his arrest was also captured:

12:27 de la madrugada: Momento en el que la dictadura secuestra a Leopoldo en mi casa. No lo van a doblegar! pic.twitter.com/0EdlQvEGXS

— Lilian Tintori (@liliantintori) August 1, 2017

Lilian Tintori

@liliantintori
12:27 in the early morning: The exact moment when the dictatorship abducted Leopoldo at my house. They will not break him!

ÚLTIMA HORA | Dirigentes políticos presumen que tras divulgación de mensaje de Antonio Ledezma en redes, Gobierno revocó su casa por cárcel.

— AlbertoRodNews (@AlbertoRodNews) August 1, 2017

Alberto Rodríguez

@AlbertoRT51
BREAKING Political officials assume that the sharing of messages through social media by Antonio Ledezma was the reason for revoking his house arrest.

Maduro has followed through with his threats to continue attacking the political opposition, congress and the Venezuelan attorney general.

Me informan en estos momentos que SEBIN también secuestra en estos momentos a @leopoldolopez. Dictadura empezó con todo!

— Andrés Medina García (@AndresMedinaVE) August 1, 2017

Andrés Medina García
@AndresMedinaVE

I have just been informed that SEBIN has taken @leopoldolopez. The dictatorship has begun fiercely!

ÚLTIMA HORA | Dirigentes políticos presumen que tras divulgación de mensaje de Antonio Ledezma en redes, Gobierno revocó su casa por cárcel.

— AlbertoRodNews (@AlbertoRodNews) August 1, 2017

Alberto Rodríguez

@AlbertoRT51
BREAKING Anotnio Ledezma’s house arrest privileges have been revoked. Political officials assume this was due to messages he shared on social media.

Tags: crisis in Venezuela leopoldo lopez