WASHINGTON – The United States says it is holding Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro “personally responsible” for the health and safety of two opposition leaders who were taken by authorities from the homes where they were under house arrest.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the detentions of Leopoldo López and Antonio Ledezma followed the Maduro government’s “outrageous seizure of power through a sham election” over the weekend.
Sanders says López and Ledezma were being “unjustly” held by the Venezuelan government and that Maduro is responsible for their well-being.
López was detained after anti-government protests and sentenced to more than a decade in prison. He was released last month to serve the rest of his term under house arrest. Ledezma, a former Caracas mayor, was also detained in 2015 and has been under house arrest.
