Venezuela crisis: Secret service raids offices of opposition leader Guaidó

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Members of the Sebin intelligence service stand outside the building housing the office of Venezuela's opposition leader Juan Guaidó in Caracas, 21 January 2019Image copyright EPA
Image caption Officers from the Sebin intelligence carrier surrounded the constructing in Caracas

Venezuelan secret carrier brokers possess raided the areas of work of opposition chief Juan Guaidó while he’s on a talk over with to the UK.

Images showed hooded and armed officers from the Sebin carrier begin air the constructing in Caracas.

“Cowardly dictatorship!” tweeted Mr Guaidó, who held talks with Top Minister Boris Johnson in London.

Mr Guaidó is recognised by greater than 50 nations, at the side of the UK and the US, as the reliable chief of Venezuela.

On the different hand, President Nicolás Maduro, who enjoys the meat up of the Venezuelan protection power, has managed to remain in vitality.

Opposition MPs said they’d been steer clear off from getting into the areas of work by Sebin brokers.

Lawmaker Angel Torres said the black-clad officers “by surprise entered” the constructing. He said there possess been fears that they could plant fraudulent proof in opposition to Mr Guaidó.

The opposition Popular Will occasion moreover accused police of detaining MP Ismael Leon on a chief road in Caracas.

Image copyright EPA
Image caption Other folks were kept out of the areas of work by Sebin brokers

“As we are travelling… they kidnap @leon_ismael and raid our express of enterprise,” Mr Guaidó tweeted.

“The field receives and supports us! We stand company, we will finish freedom,” he added.

Venezuela’s executive has now not commented on the reviews.

Guaidó seeks EU tension on Maduro

Diagnosis by Hugo Bachega, BBC News

It’s no coincidence that this raid took express while Mr Guaidó used to be in a foreign country shopping for a mighty wished current push to his one year-lengthy effort to oust President Maduro. While brokers searched his areas of work in Caracas, he used to be telling cheering supporters in London that he would “capture very soon”.

Not all people shares the optimism. Backed by Russia, Turkey and the well-known Venezuelan navy, Mr Maduro has managed to resist rising worldwide tension and sweeping US sanctions, at the side of on the necessary oil sector. Mr Guaidó acknowledged to me that he and his supporters, in Venezuela and begin air, had underestimated the president’s potential to finish in vitality.

Next, his group will attempt to persuade the EU to impose current restrictions, concentrated on, as an illustration, the country’s gold replace. But many criticise these measures, pronouncing they exacerbate the struggling of of us who are already in determined want. Mr Guaidó, on the different hand, pushed apart this, pronouncing Mr Maduro used to be the finest one responsible.

By leaving the country, Mr Guaidó defied, for a 2d time, a court-imposed whisk back and forth ban. He declined to claim if he feared being arrested upon his return, pronouncing he knew the “dangers of anxious the dictatorship”, as he refers to the manager. His group, despite the indisputable truth that, said they’d plans “A, B, C, D and E” ready.

Right by his time out to Europe Mr Guaidó is expected to talk over with the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

On Monday, he travelled to Colombia to meet US Secretary of Snort Mike Pompeo on the sidelines of a regional conference.

Image copyright EPA
Image caption Mr Guaidó (r) met UK International Secretary Dominic Raab one day of his talk over with to London

He used to be obtained by Colombian President Iván Duque with fleshy presidential honours.

Mr Pompeo called on other nations to co-operate in efforts to prefer President Maduro from express of enterprise.

Mr Maduro accuses the US of orchestrating a coup to oust him.

The competition between Mr Guaidó and Mr Maduro flared just now not too lengthy ago when Mr Guaidó stood for re-election as National Assembly Speaker, the placement on which his reveal to the post of acting president rests.

He used to be steer clear off by the National Guard from getting into the National Assembly constructing, forcing him to cross the session to at least one other jam the assign about 100 lawmakers re-elected him.

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Media captionJuan Guaidó tried to climb over a fence to enter the National Assembly constructing

Years of turmoil possess left Venezuela within the grip of a crippling financial and political disaster.

In accordance with the UN, 4.8 million Venezuelans possess left their country since 2016, with 1.6 million arriving in neighbouring Colombia.

Practically a quarter of Venezuela’s 30 million of us are short of again, the UN says.

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