Venezuelan intelligence agents on Wednesday arrested the opposition mayor of the western city of San Cristobal, which has been a crucible of anti-government resistance and spawned the current wave of protests.
Then, hours later, the Supreme Court announced that the opposition mayor of San Diego, Enzo Scarano, would be removed from his post and serve 10 months and 15 days in prison for disobeying a March 12 court order to keep protesters from barricading streets in his city.
The mayors joined opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who is being held on charges of arson and conspiracy, as leading government opponents jailed by President Nicolas Maduro’s administration since the unrest began last month.
The arrest of San Cristobal Mayor Daniel Ceballos was made in Caracas hotel by agents from the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service, known by its Spanish initials SEBIN, according to his aide, Ronni Pavolini.
Ceballos, who was in Caracas for a meeting of opposition mayors, had been outspoken in his criticism of what he called repression by security forces in his city. . .