Austrian Foreign Minister Urges Venezuela To Release Guaido's Uncle

Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg on Thursday raised concerns over the recent detention of Venezuelan opposition figure Juan Guaido's uncle in the Latin American country and called for his release

VIENNA (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th February, 2020) Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg on Thursday raised concerns over the recent detention of Venezuelan opposition figure Juan Guaido's uncle in the Latin American country and called for his release.

Earlier on Thursday, Guaido's office in the United States said in a statement that his uncle, Juan Jose Marquez, had been detained by President Nicolas Maduro's government in Venezuela. The opposition called the incident kidnapping and urged the international community to demand his release.

"We are very concerned about the recent incident in #Venezuela.

The arbitrary detention of @jguaido 's uncle at Caracas airport demonstrates the undemocratic situation in the country. We call for swift investigation and liberation!" Schallenberg said, as quoted on the Foreign Ministry's official account on Twitter.

According to media reports, citing Maduro's ally Diosdado Cabello, Guaido's uncle was detained right after arriving in Caracas on Wednesday for allegedly smuggling small amounts of C-4 explosives and two bulletproof jackets into Venezuela.