Venezuela Arrests Activist Ahead of National Opposition Protest
- Goicoechea was a prominent student leader in 2007 protests
- Arrest follows ex-mayor’s transfer from house arrest to prison
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Venezuelan authorities have arrested a once prominent anti-government activist just days before the opposition is set to stage a national protest against the rule of President Nicolas Maduro.
Yon Goicoechea, a former student leader who helped the opposition mount one of the most significant challenges to the late Hugo Chavez, was arrested on charges of possessing detonating cords for explosive devices, the ruling socialist party said Monday. Freddy Guevara, a leader of the opposition Popular Will party, told El Nacional that the charges against Goicoechea were baseless. Goicoechea, who helped organize a wave of protests in 2007, returned to Venezuela in July after completing graduate studies in the U.S. and Spain.