CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP)-Aclose ally of Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who was detained over the weekend just hours after his release from prison, was moved on Tuesday to house arrest, his son said.

Writing on X, Ramon Guanipa said his father, former National Assembly vice president Juan Pablo Guanipa, was placed under house arrest at his home in the city of Maracaibo and thanked the United States “for its efforts in support of freedom in Venezuela.”

The younger Guanipa added that his father “remains unjustly imprisoned, because house arrest is still imprisonment” and demanded “his full freedom, as well as the freedom of all political prisoners.”

Ramon Guanipa, son of former National Assembly Vice President Juan Pablo Guanipa, speaks during a press conference following his father’s re-arrest in Caracas on February 9, 2026. Venezuela’s Nobel peace laureate Maria Corina Machado said on February 9 that armed men “kidnapped” a close ally shortly after his release by authorities, following ex-leader Nicolas Maduro’s capture. The country’s Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed later that same day that former National Assembly vice president Juan Pablo Guanipa, 61, was again taken into custody and to be put under house arrest, arguing that he violated the conditions of his release. (Photo by Federico PARRA / AFP)

Guanipa walked out of jail on Sunday after more than eight months behind bars, part of the drip-release of political prisoners begun by the government in January after the US overthrow of authoritarian leader Nicolas Maduro.

During a few hours of freedom, Guanipa met relatives of political detainees and challenged authorities to respect the results of the 2024 presidential election — which Maduro is widely accused of stealing — or call new elections.

Shortly afterward he was detained again.

His rearrest was seen as a sign of a continuing clampdown on dissent in Venezuela, despite acting president Delcy Rodriguez promising a new dawn for the country.

The Public Prosecutor’s Office said Guanipa was detained anew for violating his parole conditions, without providing details.

Interior Minister Diosado Cabello, a long-time architect of repression in Venezuela, appeared to blame Guanipa for his rearrest, saying Monday that “some politicians…thought they could do whatever they wanted and stir up trouble in the country.”