Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa was rearrested by heavily armed men just hours after his release from prison, with his family describing the incident as a "kidnapping".

Guanipa, a close ally of Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, had been detained for over eight months on accusations of involvement in a terrorist plot, which his family and opposition leaders deny as politically motivated.

The Venezuelan government claims Guanipa violated the terms of his release, but opposition leaders argue this is another example of the government's crackdown on dissent. Since the US captured former President Nicolas Maduro, Venezuela has released at least 383 political prisoners, but instances like Guanipa's rearrest raise concerns about the country's human rights situation.