US warns Venezuela's Maduro after government opponents detained
Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma were detained in the early hours of Tuesday, following a vote giving Maduro more power.
Wednesday 2 August 2017 08:40, UK
Donald Trump has warned Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro that he will be held "personally responsible" for the safety of two opponents who were jailed on Tuesday.
Leopoldo Lopez, 46, and Antonio Ledezma, 62, had already been under house arrest when they were apparently detained in the early hours of Tuesday.
It comes after a controversial vote to give Mr Maduro sweeping new powers that many fear will turn his tight grip on the country into a dictatorship.
In a statement issued by the White House, the US President said: "The United States hold Maduro - who publicly announced just hours earlier that he would move against his political opposition - personally responsible for the health and safety of Mr Lopez, Mr Ledezma and any others seized."
The two men are described in the statement as political prisoners who are "being held illegally by the regime".
The US has already imposed sanctions on the South American leader, calling him a "dictator".
Mr Lopez's wife Lilian Tintori posted a video showing armed men putting her husband into a car.
Mr Ledezma's son Victor posted a video which he said showed his father being detained.
Mr Lopez, a US-educated economist and former mayor of Caracas, had originally been arrested for his role in leading demonstrations against Mr Maduro and Mr Ledezma, a veteran politician, had been arrested on charges of planning a coup.
The pro-government Supreme Court said the men had been planning to flee the country and had breached the terms of their house arrest by making political statements and speaking to reporters.
But opposition supporters said the actions of the government, using security forces and night raids, were an example of how far Mr Maduro was willing to go in order to silence rivals.
Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson also called for political prisoners to be released and "freedoms and democracy respected".
He tweeted: "Maduro acting like a dictator of an evil regime and has destroyed Venezuelan economy, eroded human rights and imprisoned thousands."
The arrests of Mr Lopez and Mr Ledezma came after Sunday's vote, which rubber-stamped an assembly giving Mr Maduro virtually unlimited powers, including the ability to change the constitution.
The vote was boycotted by most people.
Opposition parties had refused to take part in the vote and Mr Lopez and Mr Ledezma had called for protests against it, but officials claimed a turnout of more than eight million.
Opposition figures and foreign governments - including the UK and the EU - dismissed it as a sham.