CARACAS: Thousands of backers of Venezuela’s former leader Nicolas Maduro, ousted in a deadly US military operation a month ago, marched in Caracas on Tuesday to demand his freedom.
“Venezuela needs Nicolas,” chanted the crowd, as stand-in President Delcy Rodriguez navigates a tightrope between holding on to support from Washington but also from Maduro acolytes in her government and the Venezuelan people.
Several demonstrators, many of them public sector workers, held photos of Maduro and of his wife, Cilia Flores, who were both seized by US forces on January 3 to stand trial on drug charges in New York.
Called by the government, the march stretched for several hundred meters, accompanied by trucks blaring music.
Many protesters waved Venezuelan flags and were dressed in the red colors of the ruling “Chavista” movement named after Maduro’s socialist predecessor Hugo Chavez.
“We feel confused, sad, angry. There are a lot of emotions,” said Jose Perdomo, a 58-year-old municipal employee who also declared his backing “for the decisions taken by our interim president, Delcy Rodriguez.”
He added that “sooner or later they will have to free our president.”
US President Donald Trump has said he is willing to work with Rodriguez as long as she toes Washington’s line, particularly on granting access to Venezuela’s vast oil reserves.
Under pressure, Rodriguez has started freeing political prisoners and opened Venezuela’s nationalized hydrocarbons industry to private investment.
She was a staunch backer of Maduro, and served as his vice president.
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Thousands of Venezuelans march to demand Maduro’s release
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Thousands of Venezuelans march to demand Maduro’s release
- Several demonstrators, many of them public sector workers, held photos of Maduro and of his wife, Cilia Flores, who were both seized by US forces on January 3 to stand trial on drug charges in New York
French police arrest five over crypto-linked magistrate kidnapping
LYON: French authorities have arrested five suspects after a magistrate and her mother were held captive last week for around 30 hours in a cryptocurrency ransom plot, prosecutors told AFP on Sunday.
The arrests of four men and one woman followed the discovery of the 35-year-old magistrate and her 67-year-old mother on Friday, found injured in a garage in the southeastern Drome department, the Lyon public prosecutor’s office said.
During a press conference held later on Friday, Lyon prosecutor Thierry Dran said the magistrate’s partner — who was not home when the pair were abducted overnight Wednesday to Thursday — has a leading position in a cryptocurrency start-up.
A massive police search involving 160 officers was launched after he had received a message and a photo of his partner from the kidnappers demanding a ransom to be paid in cryptocurrency.
The captors threatened to mutilate the victims if the transfer was not made quickly, Dran told reporters, declining to specify the amount demanded.
But the two women managed to free themselves and raise the alarm. They were rescued Friday morning in Bourg-les-Valence without any ransom being paid, according to the prosecutor.
French authorities have been dealing with a string of kidnappings and extortion attempts targeting the families of wealthy individuals dealing in cryptocurrencies.
In January 2025, kidnappers seized French crypto boss David Balland and his partner. Balland co-founded a crypto firm called Ledger, valued at the time at more than $1 billion.
Balland’s kidnappers cut off his finger and demanded a hefty ransom. He was freed the next day, and his girlfriend was found tied up in the boot of a car outside Paris.
In May, the father of a man who ran a Malta-based cryptocurrency company was kidnapped by four hooded men in Paris.
The victim, whose finger was also severed by the kidnappers and for whom a ransom of several million euros was demanded, was released 58 hours later in a raid by the security forces.
The arrests of four men and one woman followed the discovery of the 35-year-old magistrate and her 67-year-old mother on Friday, found injured in a garage in the southeastern Drome department, the Lyon public prosecutor’s office said.
During a press conference held later on Friday, Lyon prosecutor Thierry Dran said the magistrate’s partner — who was not home when the pair were abducted overnight Wednesday to Thursday — has a leading position in a cryptocurrency start-up.
A massive police search involving 160 officers was launched after he had received a message and a photo of his partner from the kidnappers demanding a ransom to be paid in cryptocurrency.
The captors threatened to mutilate the victims if the transfer was not made quickly, Dran told reporters, declining to specify the amount demanded.
But the two women managed to free themselves and raise the alarm. They were rescued Friday morning in Bourg-les-Valence without any ransom being paid, according to the prosecutor.
French authorities have been dealing with a string of kidnappings and extortion attempts targeting the families of wealthy individuals dealing in cryptocurrencies.
In January 2025, kidnappers seized French crypto boss David Balland and his partner. Balland co-founded a crypto firm called Ledger, valued at the time at more than $1 billion.
Balland’s kidnappers cut off his finger and demanded a hefty ransom. He was freed the next day, and his girlfriend was found tied up in the boot of a car outside Paris.
In May, the father of a man who ran a Malta-based cryptocurrency company was kidnapped by four hooded men in Paris.
The victim, whose finger was also severed by the kidnappers and for whom a ransom of several million euros was demanded, was released 58 hours later in a raid by the security forces.
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