Venezuelan Regime Arrests Top Opposition Leader After U.S. Says It Won’t Renew Chevron Oil License

The Venezuelan regime arrested on Friday a top opposition leader, days before regional elections and shortly after the Trump administration announced it won’t extend Chevron’s license to export oil from the South American country.

Juan Pablo Guanipa, a deputy close to opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, confirmed on Friday that he had been “kidnapped” by “forces from the Nicolas Maduro regime.”

In a social media post set to be published if he was ever arrested, Guanipa said “this is a kidnapping motivated by a single reason: the regime’s fear of the Venezuelan people. The dictatorship’s fear of July 28 and 29,” a reference to last year’s presidential elections that the regime claimed without backing documentation. The opposition, in contrast, presented tallies showing candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia won by large margins.

“Those days made it clear that the regime will never be able to take down Venezuelans’ free spirit and that despite years trying to break us down, we will never abandon our democratic DNA,” the post adds.

Venezuela’s minister of Interior, Justice and Peace Diosdado Cabello confirmed the detention, accusing Guanipa of leading a “terrorist group.” “He will be held accountable,” Cabello told press, claiming his detention is linked to upcoming regional elections on Sunday, May 25. Guanipa, like Machado, was calling to boycott the elections.

“He is one of the leaders of the terrorist networks seeking. He thought he was untouchable, but Venezuelan law enforcement has shown that no one is invisible here,” Cabello added, a reference to the fact that Guanipa had been living under the radar over the past months. He was last seen in public on January 9. Over 10 other opposition members have been arrested as well.

Republican Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar quickly reacted to the news, saying that Guanipa’s “kidnapping from Maduro and Diosdado’s narco-regime is yet another sample of the terror with which he wants to sustain his dictatorship.”

“They kidnap him because they fear him. Because they can’t stand to see people who decided to be free. But they won’t win. Venezuela has woken up and Maduro feels cornered. Freedom for Guanipa and all political prisoners!” Salazar added.

Salazar, along with Miami Reps. Carlos Gimenez and Mario Diaz-Balart, were instrumental in ending an oil-for-deportees deal with Maduro, Axios reported on Friday. They got the concession from the Trump administration in exchange for their support to the president’s “big, beautiful” tax cut and spending bill.

“The Cubans didn’t have to tell us they were a ‘no’ again. We just knew it,” said a third administration official involved in the discussions. “We knew they wouldn’t fold on this,” a White House source told the outlet.

Rubio announced the decision on Wednesday night, writing on his personal X account that “the Maduro Biden oil license in Venezuela will expire as scheduled next Tuesday May 27th.” Salazar quickly thanked Rubio for “speaking with the strength this moment deserves.”

The announcement stood in contrast with that of envoy Richard Grenell, who had announced a 60-day extension of Chevron’s license to export oil from Venezuela.

Chevron’s oil operations, protected by a Treasury Department exemption despite sanctions, provide about 20% of Venezuela’s total output and serve as a key economic channel for the country.