Venezuela’s Guaido Says He Won’t Back Down After Chief Of Staff Arrest

Opposition head and Western-backed interim leader of Venezuela Juan Guaido said he would not be intimidated after his chief of staff was arrested in a raid on Thursday by President Nicolas Maduro's regime.

The raid at top aide Roberto Marrero's house by masked intelligence officers was a vile, vulgar kidnapping, Guaido told reporters. "It won't make us deviate from the path we are on," he added.

The arrest of Marrero, a lawyer, was condemned by Guaido and the US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, who said on social media: “We will hold accountable those involved.”

Guaido, who is in charge of the opposition-controlled National Assembly, has been called a puppet of the US by Maduro who accuses him of being part of a plan to overthrow the government.

Guaido said “the chain of command” in Maduro's government is broken. "Maduro doesn't dare to jail me, or he's not in charge," he said.