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| - Venezuelan activist and journalist Roland Carreno has been arrested, the government confirmed Tuesday, after opposition leader Juan Guaido accused authorities of a "forced disappearance." Attorney general Tarek William Saab said an investigation had shown Carreno was involved in getting "weapons of war and cash to certain individuals to promote violent actions" in Venezuela. He wrote on Twitter that police found Carreno with $12,000 in cash and an assault rifle. The Popular Will party, of which Carreno was operational coordinator, said more than 20 officials had raided his home. Speaking before the arrest was confirmed, Juan Guaido -- leader of the opposition-controlled legislature and still recognized as interim president by 50 foreign countries including the United States -- said Carreno had suffered a "forced disappearance". "The criminal practices of the dictatorship will not be able to control a country that stands up and raises its voice," he said. Maduro government information minister Freddy Nanez said Carreno's rights had been respected. "We reject the campaign to discredit the rule of law in Venezuela regarding the arrest of citizen Roland Carreno, who was caught red-handed," he tweeted. The National Union of Press Workers said two people arrested alongside Carreno had been released. Washington, Guaido's main international ally, condemned Monday's arrest. It was "Maduro's latest attempt to arbitrarily detain citizens to silence them and instill fear," tweeted the head of US diplomacy for Latin America, Michael Kozak. Carreno's arrest comes after Popular Will leader Leopoldo Lopez departed Venezuela on Monday after 18 months holed up at the residence of the Spanish ambassador in Caracas. Lopez was sentenced to almost 14 years in prison in 2015 on accusations of inciting violence in protests against the Maduro government that left 43 dead and some 3,000 injured a year earlier. Last year he was released from house arrest by his guards and participated in a failed military uprising against Maduro that same day, which Guaido backed. bur-leg/gle
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