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The President of the Venezuelan National Assembly Juan Guaido, January 13, 2019. Yuri CORTEZ / AFP

In Venezuela, the agents who arrested the opponent Juan Guaido, president of the National Assembly, were imprisoned. These Venezuelan intelligence officials are accused by the government of having acted "unilaterally and irregularly".

With our correspondent in Caracas, Benjamin Delille

Barely four days after Juan Guaido's mass media arrest, twelve Sebin agents, the Venezuelan intelligence services, were detained. The decision was taken by a court in Caracas for "unlawful deprivation of liberty, abuse of authority and criminal association". They were incarcerated at the headquarters of the Sebin, the Helicoid, known to be one of the worst prisons in Venezuela.

Sunday, January 13, the Minister of Communication Jorge Rodriguez had very quickly reacted to the brief arrest of the President of the National Assembly. He assured that it was a media coup, mounted by the opposition to make his leader a kind of martyr. The responsibility for this arrest was imputed Rodriguez Mucura, commissioner of the Sebin for 18 years. The government accuses him of being bought by far-right opposition to destabilize the country.

According to Juan Guaido, the authorities' behavior proves that they have lost control of part of their security forces. He also ensures to have freed Sunday by convincing his captors to release him.