Image copyright AFP Image caption After his brief detention, Mr Guaidó addressed supporters at a political rally

The head of Venezuela's opposition-controlled parliament was briefly detained days after saying he was ready to assume the country's presidency.

Juan Guaidó was travelling to a rally when intelligence agents intercepted his car north of the capital, Caracas.

The agents have been sacked over the "irregular procedure", part of a "media show" to benefit the opposition, the information minister says.

President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a second six-year term on Thursday.

The opposition calls him illegitimate and Mr Guaidó said on Friday he was ready to assume the Venezuelan presidency on an interim basis.

His wife, Fabiana Rosales, and daughter were travelling with him to a political rally in the coastal town of Caraballedas, opposition members said.

Ms Rosales announced her husband's detention on Twitter and video was posted on social media not long afterwards apparently showing the moment it happened.

He was released about an hour later.

The exact circumstances surrounding Sunday's events are still unclear, BBC South America correspondent Katy Watson reports.

But the arrest seems to be designed to send a message to those who oppose Mr Maduro, our correspondent adds.

What has the reaction been?

Information Minister Jorge Rodríguez said rogue agents of the intelligence agency, Sebin, had acted unilaterally.

Later, Mr Guaidó told supporters at a rally: "I want to send a message to Miraflores [the presidential palace] - the game has changed... Here we are! We are not afraid!"

He said Mr Rodríguez's comments were a sign that the government had lost control of its own security forces.

Two journalists who were covering the case - Beatriz Adrián, from Colombia's Caracol television, and Osmary Hernández, who works for CNN's Spanish language channel - were also briefly detained.

What's happening in Venezuela?

Earlier this month, Mr Guaidó became the speaker of the National Assembly, which has been stripped of its powers since Mr Maduro's ruling Socialist Party lost control of it in 2016.

Mr Maduro dismissed his comments as a "show". His re-election in May last year was marred by an opposition boycott and allegations of vote-rigging.

Image copyright Reuters Image caption Mr Maduro was sworn in for a second six-year term as president on Thursday

Since taking office Mr Maduro has been condemned at home and abroad for alleged human rights abuses and for his handling of the economy, which is in a state of near-collapse.

Venezuela is one of the world's largest oil producers but its overreliance on the product, which accounts for about 95% of its export earnings, left the country vulnerable when prices dropped in 2014.

As a result, the cost of imported goods like food and medicine has risen, and currency inflation has skyrocketed.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Families have resorted to eating rotten meat in Zulia state

The government is also increasingly struggling to get credit after it defaulted on some of its government bonds. In response, the government has printed more money, devaluing the currency further.

Mr Maduro was first elected in 2013, succeeding Hugo Chávez who died of cancer after governing for 14 years.</s>Venezuela in conflict of powers: Maduro took office, but Guaidó shows as president while Venezuelans protest

It seemed sure that, starting January 10, Venezuela would experience high uncertainty. Nicolás Maduro swore in the presidency for the 2019-2015 government period in front of the Supreme Court of Justice (TSJ), when the constitution of that country dictates that it is before Parliament that the president must present the inauguration. Both the international community and the National Assembly (AN), declared in contempt by the Supreme Court, mark Maduro as an usurper. The illegitimacy of the president is discussed globally and Juan Guaidó is recognized as interim president of the Republic.

The articles 333, 350 and 233 of the Venezuelan Constitution are in which the president of the National Assembly, Juan Guaidó, will use to assume as Venezuelan president after declaring Nicolás Maduro's usurpation of the charge.

It must be the people of Venezuela, the Armed Forces, the international community that leads us to clearly assume the mandate that we are not going to wipe out, that we are going to exercise, Guaidó said Friday from the offices of the United Nations (UN). in Caracas during an open Parliament hall called after the taking of Maduro.

Luis Almagro, the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS) expressed through his Twitter account his support for Guaidó as president of Venezuela after he announced that he adheres to Article 233 of the Constitution. This position of repudiation of Maduro as president has been supported by the member countries of the European Union, the United States, the Lima Group, among other powers worldwide.

We welcome the assumption of Juan Guaidó as Acting President of Venezuela in accordance with Article 233 of the Political Constitution. You have our support, that of the international community and the people of Venezuela, tweeted Almagro.

However, the parliamentarian opposition argues that the support of the Armed Forces is crucial, starting from the thesis that the chain of command, in which the president of the Republic is the constitutional commander-in-chief of the Military, has been broken.

Political analyst Diego Cabrita argues that there is a conflict of powers in the Latin American nation. The double constitutional reading, from which there is a duplicate of each state power - a National Constituent Assembly (ANC), without opposition representation, against the AN; a Supreme Court Supreme Court with magistrates in exile appointed by the AN and now a double executive power deepens the atmosphere of political and economic uncertainty in a country where inflation estimated for 2019 reaches 10,000,000%, according to the Fund International Monetary Fund (IMF).

17 countries sent delegates of second level and only five presidents attended the ceremony in which Maduro took the disputed presidency, describing the ceremony as an act of peace, ensuring that it complied with the Constitution to democratically take the reins of the country towards a higher destiny 

For a president who based the rhetoric of his speeches solely on the figure of the late former president Hugo Chávez, without achievements, without projects and without his own political future, he devoted himself to repeating pitiful messages and assured that Venezuela is the center of a World War.

During a conference offered this Friday at the Foreign Ministry, Maduro said about OAS declarations in which Guaidó is recognized as interim president that ”it seems that a group of boys have taken control of the opposition and now want to play the destabilization, is the same group that led the guarimbas (street protests), every day they are going to get a new show and they meet at night to plan what the show will be the next day .

Rejection of Venezuelans inside and outside the country

Through platforms for Venezuelan immigrants, residents in Uruguay from that country met in Montevideo on Thursday expressing rejection of the takeover of Maduro. Ángel Arellano, coordinator of the NGO Manos Veneguayas, predicts that an agenda of mobilizations will be created inside and outside the country in response to the conflict of powers that takes place in Venezuela.

There is no agreement with any party within any country,” says Arellano regarding the support received by Uruguayan opposition politicians (right-wing). However, it would be stingy and ungrateful not to mention that the National Party, the Colorado Party, the Independent Party or the People's Party have been extremely cooperative with the Venezuelan opposition cause in the sense of extending its claim to a political level, Arellano declared during the concentration in Montevideo before the Executive, who did not adhere to the position of repudiation of the Venezuelan “illegitimate” President.</s>The head of Venezuela's opposition-controlled parliament was briefly detained days after saying he was ready to assume the country's presidency.

A video posted on social media appears to show the moment intelligence agents intercept Juan Guaidó's car in a busy road north of the capital, Caracas.

Two journalists detained while covering the case have also been released.

President Nicolás Maduro was sworn in for a second six-year term on Thursday. The opposition calls him illegitimate.

Mr Guaidó - who said on Friday he was ready to assume the Venezuelan presidency on an interim basis - was detained while he was on his way to a political rally in the northern state of Vargas, opposition members said.

His wife, Fabiana Rosales, who announced the detention on Twitter, and daughter were travelling with him, according to local media reports.

Mr Guaidó is the speaker of the National Assembly, which has been stripped of powers by the Supreme Court. Mr Maduro dismissed his comments as a "show".

The detained journalists have been named as Beatriz Adrián, from Colombia's Caracol television, and Osmary Hernández, who works for CNN's Spanish news channel.</s>Video shows the moment when Juan Guaido, the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, was arrested.

Juan Guaido, president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, was detained this Sunday near the capital Caracas, by the secret police of Nicolas Maduro, reported Carlos Vecchio, the National Political Coordinator of Voluntad Popular.</s>CARABALLEDA, Venezuela—The head of Venezuela’s legislature was briefly detained Sunday by the country’s secret police, as international pressure mounts on authoritarian leader Nicolás Maduro.

The detention came days after Juan Guaidó, the 35-year-old lawmaker who chairs Venezuela’s National Assembly, said he was willing to assume the presidency.</s>Only a week ago, few outside of Venezuela knew of Juan Guaidó. But the 35-year-old industrial engineer has suddenly emerged as a cause celebre, heralded by global leaders for his challenge to the near-total power of President Nicolás Maduro.

Following May elections internationally derided as a fraudulent power grab, Maduro was sworn in for a new six-year term Thursday. One day later, Guaidó — the new head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly — took a step Venezuelan critics had long considered too dangerous: invoking articles in the constitution that allow the head of the assembly to assume national leadership if a “usurper” takes office.

In a socialist country buckling under the weight of corruption, mismanagement and hyperinflation that has left food and medicine scarce, Guaidó stopped short of declaring himself Venezuela’s interim president. But he appeared to energize the moribund opposition, emerging as a symbol of hope for Maduro’s detractors.

“We will oust Maduro and his gang from power,” Guaidó said recently. “We’re entering the most dangerous stage of our history.”

His comments were prescient. On Sunday, Guaidó was on his way to a rally just outside Caracas when he was intercepted by the intelligence police, forced into a van and detained for about 45 minutes. He was released unharmed, but his detention showed how dangerous his bid to oust Maduro has become. It also showed how quickly he had captured the public’s imagination: In just one day, he tripled his Twitter followers — from 100,000 to 334,000.

There are signs, however, that the government may tread more lightly with Guaidó than with other dissident politicians it has arrested, tortured or exiled. After Guaidó’s detention Sunday, Communications Minister Jorge Rodriguez told the media that the intelligence officers involved had acted on their own and would be fired, suggesting the government isn’t willing to risk jailing the leader for now.

Two journalists, CNN’s Osmary Hernández and Colombian Radio Caracol’s Beatriz Adrián were also briefly held by authorities while reporting on Guaidó’s detention. They were pushed by police, and Hernández was grabbed by her neck, the reporters said in telephone interviews.

“My friends, the game has changed now,” Guaidó said upon his release. “If they wanted to send us a message of intimidation, the answer is: We are not afraid.”

Guaidó’s Twitter bio describes him simply as a “public servant” who is “in love with Venezuela.” He has held one public post when he was elected legislator for the state of Vargas, in 2015. Before that, he was part of a student movement that protested then-President Hugo Chávez in 2007.

The son of a commercial pilot and teacher, Guaidó grew up in a middle-class family, one of eight children. His mentor, Leopoldo López, founded the Popular Will party in 2009 and led a wave of protests in 2014 before being jailed. He is still under house arrest.

“Obviously Guaidó is not the seasoned veteran that other politicians are, but that can actually work in his favor,” said David Smilde, senior fellow at the Washington Office on Latin America. “He doesn’t have the old backdoor political culture, and he brings something different.”

Guaidó inherited the top post at the Popular Will party, partly because most of its leadership has been jailed or fled the country. On Jan. 5, he was named the head of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, which maintains broad recognition internationally despite having been stripped of its powers by Maduro in 2017.

His detention followed arguably the most radical step the country’s opposition has taken since Maduro rose to power in 2013, succeeding the leftist firebrand Chávez, who died of cancer that year. Violent repression of protests in 2017 led to the deaths of more than 100 people. Since then, the opposition has fizzled.

Guaidó, however, appears to be gaining traction. Chile and Colombia expressed support for the National Assembly. The head of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, and Brazil’s new far-right president, Jair Bolsonaro, effectively recognized Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president, even though he has not yet claimed that mantle himself.

In a tweet Sunday, Vice President Pence and national security adviser John Bolton condemned Guaidó’s arrest and praised what they called his “courageous decision” to challenge the authority of Maduro, whom they denounced as “illegitimate.”

Although Maduro’s government could be severely damaged by further erosion of its relationship with Washington — including potential loss of its controlling rights over U.S.-based oil company Citgo — the United States also stands to lose. A complete severing of ties could pose new challenges for U.S. refineries designed to process Venezuela’s sludgelike heavy crude and could raise questions about the status of Washington’s embassy in Caracas.

“If the U.S. government recognizes Juan Guaidó as president, U.S. courts would see his government as the only one that can manage assets,” said Francisco Rodríguez, chief economist at the New York-based Torino Capital investment firm. “A parallel government could have significant economic power.”

The challenges for the current government are far from hypothetical. A group of bondholders said Friday that it would not negotiate impending payments with Maduro’s government because of its illegitimacy.

In a televised address last week, Maduro called Guaidó’s move “a show” and said a group of “little boys” had taken over the opposition. “This Guaidó, people will ask, who is that?”

Yet persecuting or jailing Guaidó risks turning him into a martyr.

If the government can discredit him “by simply ignoring or mocking him, that’s what they will likely do,” said Eric Farnsworth, vice president at the Americas Society and Council of the Americas. “Either way, he’s going to have to have a strong countenance to fight against the regime.”

Despite Maduro’s taunts, Guaidó’s move appears to have pressured the Venezuelan leader into more outreach. “I would like to sit with the opposition and open a dialogue to end the diatribe, and the useless and unnecessary conflict,” Maduro said Saturday.

Guaidó is gambling on growing international criticism and a new round of street protests scheduled to start Jan. 23 to pressure the Maduro government to agree to new elections. But success would require a carefully crafted strategy and long-term cooperation among dissident factions — something the opposition has failed to achieve in the past.

The biggest challenge, though, could be the military. Thousands of the rank and file have deserted, and there are signs of internal divisions. But Maduro has used arrests and torture to weed out disloyalty, and experts say there is little outward sign that the armed forces may soon rebel against him.

“We pray for Maduro to step down and Guaidó to become president. We pray,” said Manuel Rodriguez, a 21-year-old university student who was waiting for the leader to speak Friday. “Our country can’t take it anymore. It has collapsed.”

Today’s coverage from Post correspondents around the world

Like Washington Post World on Facebook and stay updated on foreign news</s>Venezuelan secret police seized and then swiftly released a prominent opposition leader, less than 48 hours after he declared himself ready to assume the presidency of his crisis-stricken country in a bold challenge to its leader Nicolás Maduro.

Juan Guaidó, the 35-year-old head of Venezuela’s opposition-run parliament, was reportedly taken by agents from the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) on Sunday morning as he travelled north out of the capital, Caracas.

On Friday the politician threw down the gauntlet to Hugo Chávez’s heir, telling a rally Maduro was an illegitimate “usurper” and declaring that he therefore had the constitutional right to assume leadership of the country until fresh elections were held. Several regional powers, including Brazil and Colombia, voiced support for that move.

A video circulating on social media appeared to show the moment of Guaidó’s detention, which sparked an immediate wave of international condemnation.

The head of the Organisation of American States expressed his “absolute condemnation” of what he called “the kidnapping of Venezuela’s interim president”. “The international community must stop the crimes of Maduro and his goons,” Luis Almagro tweeted.

Two foreign journalists – from the Colombian broadcaster Caracol and CNN’s Spanish language channel, CNN en Español – were also reported to have been detained.

However, less than an hour after the first reports of Guaidó’s detention he was released. “I am with him already,” tweeted the politician’s wife, Fabiana Rosales, adding: “The dictatorship will not crush his fighting spirit.”

Stalin González, another prominent opposition leader, tweeted: “They will not scare us with acts of violence and arbitrariness. We will carry on fighting until we achieve the change Venezuela needs.”

On Friday Venezuela’s chavista prison minister, María Iris Varela Rangel, had tweeted a warning to Guaidó after his challenge to her leader: “I’ve already prepared your cell and your uniform, I hope you name your cabinet quickly so I know who is going down with you.”

The secret police operation brought to a close a dramatic week for the oil-rich South American nation which appeared to signal the start of a new and potentially tumultuous phase in Venezuela’s economic and political crisis.

On Thursday, Maduro, who assumed leadership of Chávez’s Bolivarian revolution after his 2013 death, shrugged off a storm of international condemnation to start his second six-year term in office.

But with Venezuela’s economic collapse accelerating and international pressure mounting as Latin America swings back to the political right, many doubt Maduro will cling to power for that long.

Maduro mocked Guaidó on Friday at a summit of Latin American leftists who had travelled to Caracas for his inauguration, claiming most citizens did not even know who he was.

“It is a show … a Hollywood-esque show,” Maduro said of his opponent’s bid to replace him.</s>Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó has reportedly been detained by the country's intelligence agents, two days after he was declared the interim President of Venezuela by the disempowered National Assembly.

"Alert the world and the country that today # 13Ene a SEBIN command intercepted the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela @jguaido and we do not know his whereabouts," a message on Guaidó's official Twitter account reads.

Later in the day, Organization of American States (OAS) President Luis Almagro accused Venezuelan authorities of kidnapping Guaido.

"[We] totally condemn and reject the kidnapping of Venezuelan interim president Juan Guaido. The international community must stop the crimes of [Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro and his henchmen," Almagro tweeted.

Maduro has faced criticism from a number of states after his re-election in May, with some countries claiming that the vote was illegitimate, something vehemently denied by Caracas.

Earlier in January, the Peruvian Foreign Ministry said following the meeting of the Lima Group foreign ministers that the union did not recognize the legitimacy of Maduro's new presidential term that will begin on January 10 and urged him to call a new presidential election.</s>The president of Venezuela’s National Assembly – a man some argue is the rightful president of the country – was briefly detained Sunday by the SEBIN political police, according to multiple reports.

Juan Guaidó was on his way to a political rally Sunday when his car was stopped on the highway by masked security forces, according to videos circulating on social media. His official twitter account also confirmed that he’d been detained. But less than two hours later he was released, according to members of his political party.

The event, which has not been confirmed by the government, comes just three days after President Nicolás Maduro began a new six year term that many in the international community consider illegitimate. The United States, Perú, Brazil, Colombia and others have said that the opposition-controlled National Assembly is the only legitimate branch of government, and that Guaidó should be considered the head of state.</s>Venezuela's opposition-controlled legislature is calling for a mass protest against President Nicolas Maduro in an attempt to remove the Marxist leader from the presidency. Maduro was sworn in for a second six-year term on January 10, even though his presidency has been declared null and void by 13 of Venezuela’s neighbors. Brazil’s government issued a statement on January 12 saying it recognized Juan Guaido, the president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, as the country’s rightful president and welcomed Guaido’s readiness to “constitutionally assume the Venezuelan presidency.”

Guaido, speaking to a crowd of around 1,000 opposition supporters in Caracas on January 11, said that the nation’s constitution gives the legislature the right to assume transitional power after declaring Maduro a “usurper,” but that removing Maduro would need military backing, and people taking to the streets to demand change.

“Is it enough to lean on the constitution in a dictatorship? No. It needs to be the people, the military, and the international community that lead us to take over,” said Guaido.

The New York Times reported on January 13 that Guaido was briefly arrested two days after delivering his speech to supporters. A video recorded by a motorist appeared to show masked, heavily armed agents from the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service pulling Guaido from his vehicle and pushing him into a van and then driving away.

However, Guaido was released shortly afterward, according to Edward Rodriguez, the head of communications for the National Assembly.

Jorge Rodriguez, the Venezuelan communications minister, said that Guaido’s arrest was “arbitrary” and was not been ordered by the government. “We have learned that there has been an irregular situation where a group of officials, acting unilaterally, initiated an irregular procedure against congressman Juan Guaido,” said the minister, adding that the matter had been “solved.”

AFP reported that U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton said that the Trump administration “resolutely supports the Venezuelan National Assembly, the only legitimate branch of government duly elected by the Venezuelan people,” and especially supports “the courageous decision” by Guaido to “declare that Maduro does not legitimately hold the country's presidency.”

In Washington, Organization of American States Secretary General Luis Almagro recognized Guaido as head of state, tweeting: “We welcome the assumption of @jguaido as interim President of Venezuela.”

Venezuela’s Crude Oil Exports to U.S. Declining Sharply
The President of the National Assembly of Venezuela, Juan Guaidó, is briefly detained in Caracas after saying he was prepared to assume the country's presidency.