Venezuela agents release opposition leader Guaido

Venezuelan intelligence agents have released opposition leader and congress chief Juan Guaido after briely detaining him on the way to a political rally, a congressional oficial said on Sunday.

Guaido on Friday said he was willing to assume the presidency after the opposition declared President Nicolas Maduro’s second term to be illegitimate.

Information Ministry did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Maduro was sworn in to a second term on Thursday, defying critics in the United States and Latin America who called him an illegitimate usurper of a nation where economic chaos has wrought a humanitarian crisis.

Guaido, a lawmaker from the hardline Popular Will opposition party who was elected to head the National Assembly on Jan. 5, said on Friday he would only take ofice with support of the armed forces.

Venezuela’ s government claimed victory on Saturday in a diplomatic quarrel with Latin American countries over a border dispute with Guyana, while ignoring an avalanche of criticism over President Nicolas Maduro’s second term in ofice.