Two prominent Venezuelan opposition leaders were taken from their homes in raids by intelligence services in the early hours of Tuesday, in what analysts say signals a lurch toward a harder government line in the crisis.Leopoldo Lopez and Antonio Ledezma, both under house arrest for their political activities, were taken from their homes by agents of Venezuela's intelligence service, according to their families."12:27 in the morning: the moment when the dictatorship kidnaps Leopoldo at my house," Lopez's wife, Lilian Tintori, wrote on Twitter, posting a clip of her husband being led into a vehicle marked SEBIN – the acronym by which the intelligence agency is known.
Lopez, previously jailed for his role in coordinating mass demonstrations in 2014, had been under house arrest since July. Human rights groups have denounced the charges against both him and Ledezma – another prominent opposition leader under house arrest over charges of leading a coup against Maduro – as politically motivated.Continue reading on VICE NEWS.