The Venezuelan dictatorship has freed on parole the former parliamentarian Freddy Guevara, 35, leader of the opposition party Voluntad Popular and right-hand man of the leader Juan Guaidó. Guevara was arrested on July 12 when his car was pulled over on a road near Caracas. Cell phone in hand, he ended his own prison. Taken to Helicoid, the prison for political prisoners, Guevara began responding to a process that accuses him of being linked to “extremist and paramilitary groups associated with the Colombian government”, as well as “terrorism” and to “betrayal of the fatherland”. “.
The release of Guevara, along with that of other political prisoners, was a demand from the opposition for goodwill on the part of the dictatorship when, last Friday (13), the first round of dialogue between the regime and the opposition. . The talks are taking place in Mexico, mediated by Norway, and are expected to last 180 days.
As the opposition calls for free presidential elections, the freedom of political prisoners and justice for human rights violations, the dictatorship calls for the lifting of economic sanctions against key members of the regime’s senior leadership.
“I still don’t know what my limits will be, but I hope to be able to participate in the dialogues and in the construction of peace. I was isolated and it is only today that I am aware of everything that happened in my absence. I want to meet my fellow combatants soon, ”Guevara told local media after his release.
The former parliamentarian will have to continue to respond to the process, but with complete freedom. According to Bloomberg, this would have been part of the negotiations for Guevara to replace Carlos Vecchio, Guaidó’s ambassador to the United States, in this post. The regime of Nicolás Maduro would have demanded the departure of Vecchio and offered in return the freedom of Guevara.
The former parliamentarian had been accused in the past of “inciting violence” in demonstrations against the installation of the National Constituent Assembly in 2017. To avoid being arrested, he took refuge in the embassy from Chile to Caracas, where he remained for three years, until being pardoned in 2020.