Venezuelan police deny going to Guaido’s home

Venezuelan police denied a claim by self-proclaimed acting president Juan Guaido that officers went to his Caracas home on Thursday with the intention of questioning his wife.

The National Assembly speaker’s spouse, Fabiana Rosales, was with her husband in another part of the capital at the time.

Vowing to hold President Nicolas Maduro ‘s government responsible for the safety of his family, Guaido said he learned of the police visit from his neighbors.

“They are evidently measuring the capacity of reaction and once again, the little game turned out badly for them,” Guaido told reporters at his home in a gated community in the Santa Fe neighborhood.

“They harassed my family, because we know that is the modus operandi,” he said.

The only people in the residence when police came were his 20-month-old daughter and one of her grandmothers, Guaido said.

Police belonging to the Special Actions Force approached the community’s guard house and asked to see Rosales, who was at that moment standing alongside Guaido as he delivered a speech, the politician said, citing accounts from neighbors.

Minutes after Guaido’s comments to the press, the national police denied sending officers to his home.

“It is totally FALSE that officers of the #FAES (Special Actions Force) are in Santa Fe seeking the family of lawmaker Guaido,” police commander Carlos Alfredo Perez Ampueda said in a Twitter message.

During his impromptu press conference, Guaido again urged members of the security forces to ignore orders from Maduro and request amnesty under a bill passed two weeks ago by the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

Guaido was detained on Jan. 13 at a meeting with supporters in Vargas, near the capital, but he released within 30 minutes and the officers who accosted him were themselves charged.

Venezuela’s long-simmering political crisis moved into a more acute phase on Jan. 23 with Guaido’s claim to be the country’s legitimate leader.

The United States and its Latin American allies quickly recognized Guaido as interim head of state and the European Parliament followed suit on Thursday.

Spain is among several European nations that say they will also recognize Guaido unless Maduro agrees to hold new elections.

Russia and China support the Maduro government, while Mexico and Uruguay are calling for mediation between the parties in Venezuela.

Maduro won last May’s ballot by a wide margin, but much of the opposition boycotted the process and rejected the result as illegitimate.