Buenos Aires, 6 October 2023 (dpa/MIA) - The Venezuelan public prosecutor's office has requested an arrest warrant for opposition politician Juan Guaidó.

Guaidó is being investigated for "alleged high treason, usurpation of functions, favouring or embezzlement of money, securities or public property, money laundering and association", Attorney General Tarek William Saab, announced on Thursday.

On the social media platform X, formerly Twitter, Guaidó spoke of a "physical and moral" persecution of the opposition.

Guaidó had declared himself interim president of Venezuela in 2019, putting pressure on Venezuela's authoritarian head of state Nicolás Maduro. Many countries - including the US and Germany - recognized Guaidó as president.

Maduro managed to sit out the crisis and at the end of last year the Venezuelan opposition deposed Guaidó as interim president. Today, Maduro's power is considered secure again.

In July, a Venezuelan judiciary banned opposition politician María Corina Machado from next year's presidential election and from holding public office for 15 years, due to alleged irregularities during her time as a member of parliament.

The European Union criticized the decision as aimed at preventing members of the opposition from exercising their basic political rights.

Photo: MIA archive