CARACAS — A new political crisis convulsed Venezuela on Friday over the arrest of the Caracas mayor, one of the country's top opposition figures, accused by President Nicolás Maduro of abetting what he called an American plot to overthrow the government.
Supporters of the mayor, Antonio Ledezma, mobilized protests after his Thursday night arrest — which they called a kidnapping.
Human Rights Watch and other advocacy groups demanded Ledezma's release, and hundreds of demonstrators gathered in a Caracas plaza. But Maduro, whose administration has been roiled by an economic crisis, insisted that Ledezma was a seditious plotter working hand-in-hand with the US government.
Hours after mayor was seized, Maduro promised to release hours of video to demonstrate the United States had orchestrated a secret plot to topple him.
"Venezuela's problems cannot be solved by criminalizing dissent," the US State Department said in response.