Opposition vows to defy Maduro as key figure detained

Opposition politicians battling to bring down Venezuela’s strongman leader, Nicolas Maduro, have vowed to continue their struggle after the detention of one of their movement’s key figures signalled the start of a major crackdown.Edgar Zambrano, the vice-president of Venezuela’s opposition-controlled parliament, was seized by intelligence agents on Wednesday night, and at least nine other lawmakers members are also facing detention on charges relating to last week’s failed uprising.The politicians – all supporters of Juan Guaido, the opposition leader spearheading the push to topple Maduro – are alleged to have committed a litany of offences including including treason, conspiracy, instigating revolt and civil rebellion.Juan Andres Mejia, one of the targeted deputies, told the Guardian the group would not be cowed by Maduro’s “absolutely illegal and unconstitutional” counterattack.“This is not going to work … You are not going to solve Venezuela’s problems by persecuting and imprisoning people. There are just too many of us who want change,” said Mejia, a close Guaido ally and member of his party, Voluntad Popular (Popular Will).“A dictatorship is trying to advance and our responsibility is to try to stop that from happening,” added Mejia, 32.Richard Blanco, another of the 10 targeted lawmakers, said: “They are doing this ... because they are afraid. He (Maduro) knows he is on his way out.”Blanco, 54, said he had sought shelter in the residence of the Argentine ambassador in Caracas. “I decided to come here ... because my life was in danger.” A third lawmaker, Marianela Magallanes, has reportedly taken shelter in the residence of the Italian ambassador to avoid arrest.The detention of Zambrano – who was among those who joined Guaido’s fruitless attempt to spark a pre-dawn uprising against Maduro on April 30 – sparked a wave of domestic and international condemnation.“Maduro’s arrest of … Zambrano breaches parliamentary immunity and is a clear violation of the constitution,” tweeted the British Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt. “Feels like the act of a desperate man on borrowed time.” The US state department slammed Zambrano’s “illegal and inexcusable” detention and warned of “consequences” if he was not freed.Guaido accused Maduro’s regime of “kidnapping” Zambrano, 63, who was taken to El Helicoide, a notorious political prison in Venezuela’s capital, Caracas.The spectacular building, conceived in the 1950s as a glamorous shopping centre symbolising the wealth and swagger of south America, now houses the headquarters of Venezuela’s spy agency, the National Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin).That feared and shadowy organisation appears to have been poised to turn on Maduro last week, with Sebin’s director, Manuel Cristopher Figuera, defecting in order to back Guaido.El Helicoide (the helix) serves as the headquarters of Venezuela’s National Bolivarian Intelligence Service. However, for reasons that remain murky, no other major military figures joined Guaido’s movement – despite reports that weeks of secret talks had produced an agreement that they would do so.On Tuesday – in a clear sign that Washington thinks there may still be life in efforts to unseat Maduro – the US announced it had lifted sanctions on Figuera “in recognition of his recent actions in support of democracy and the rule of law”.