CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) – Men in camouflage uniforms smashed into the office of Caracas Mayor Antonio Ledezma on Thursday and carried the opposition figure away. An aide said some of the officers wore the uniform of the national intelligence service police.
Reports of the arrest set off protests around the city, where people spontaneously banged pots from their windows or tapped rhythms on their car horns amid rush hour traffic. Hundreds gathered in front of the headquarters of the intelligence service police to vent their anger.
The government did not respond to calls seeking confirmation of the arrest and it was unclear what the mayor would be charged with. Last week, President Nicolas Maduro named Ledezma among a laundry list of government critics and Western powers he accused of plotting a coup to bring down the South American country’s socialist government.
Tensions have been running high in Venezuela this week, with the one-year anniversary of anti-government street protests that rocked the country and resulted in more than 40 deaths. The government arrested several other mayors and former mayors during last year’s unrest, including Leopoldo Lopez, who is considered by human rights groups as Latin America’s most high-profile political prisoner.
Ledezma has long opposed the socialist leadership and a hunger strike he staged after federal authorities stripped his office of most duties made him a symbol for what the opposition calls the government’s efforts to punish elected officials who do not fall in line.
His arrest was captured on surveillance video. Men in black and gray camouflage can be seen pushing the middle-aged politician from the building.
A member of Ledezma’s security team, who was not authorized to give his name, said 10 men wearing the uniform of Venezuela’s national intelligence service entered the building carrying guns and a hatchet. They used their weapons to break the door to Ledezma’s office, and then a dozen other men, wearing masks, came in and dragged the mayor away, he said.
Members of the 59 year-old mayor’s team gave statements Thursday night amid the shattered glass of the office’s front door. The rest of the office looked untouched.
Hector Urgelles, a spokesman for Ledezma’s party, the Fearless People’s Alliance, told The Associated Press that the uniformed men did not identify themselves or give a reason for the arrest.
Urgelles said the party assumed Ledezma was being held by the national intelligence service in Caracas, but had no way to know for sure.
A tweet posted on Ledezma’s Twitter account earlier said his office was full of government police. An hour later, Assemblyman Ismael Garcia wrote on Twitter that Ledezma was carried off “like a dog.”
Ledezma won election in 2008, beating a member of the socialist party led by the late President Hugo Chavez.
The ruling party subsequently transferred nearly all of Ledezma’s powers, including control of police and schools, to a newly created government entity. Ledezma responded by accusing the government of marginalizing elected officials and staged a hunger strike that drew international attention.