CARACAS, (Reuters) – Venezuelan security officials yesterday arrested Caracas metropolitan mayor Antonio Ledezma, an opposition leader and fierce critic of President Nicolas Maduro, witnesses told local media.
Officials from the Sebin intelligence agency took him from his office in Caracas, his wife and a municipal official told VIVOplay, an online news station. They said no reason was given for his detention.
“They took him by force, they hit him, once again violating human rights,” Helen Fernandez, general director of the office of metropolitan municipality of Caracas, told VIVOplay.
Ruling Socialist Party officials in recent days accused Ledezma of plotting a coup.
The vice president’s office, which oversees the Sebin, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.