CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuela has named army General Manuel Cristopher as the new chief of the Sebin intelligence agency, according to the Official Gazette circulating on Wednesday.

His designation followed the death of opposition politician Fernando Alban in Sebin custody, which the government said was a suicide but opposition leaders called a murder. </s> CARACAS - Venezuela has named a new chief of its state intelligence agency, according to the Official Gazette circulating on Wednesday, following the death of a politician in custody that was officially ruled a suicide but critics called a murder.

Army General Manuel Cristopher takes over the agency, known as Sebin, just weeks after the government announced that municipal legislator Fernando Alban had committed suicide by jumping from the 10th floor of the agency's headquarters in Caracas.

Opposition leaders said the government provided inconsistent accounts of the incident, and alleged Alban had been tortured and later killed by security forces.

The incident drew global condemnation, and the White House accused President Nicolas Maduro's government of involvement in Alban's death.

Chief Prosecutor Tarek Saab described opposition critics as "sorcerers of necrophilia" who were taking advantage of Alban's death to criticize Maduro.

Alban was jailed on Oct. 5 for alleged involvement in the explosion of two drones in August during a military parade that the government later described as an attempt to assassinate Maduro.

Cristopher replaces outgoing Sebin chief Gustavo Gonzalez.

It was not immediately evident whether Gonzalez resigned or would be given a new post.

The Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. </s> Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó has said authorities working on the orders of the Maduro regime have “kidnapped” the vice president of the opposition-controlled National Assembly.

“They are trying to break up the body that represents all Venezuelans, but they will not achieve it,” he tweeted.

Edgar Zambrano, the assembly vice president, said on Twitter that agents from the Sebin intelligence agency had surprised him and, after he refused to get out of his vehicle, were using a tow truck to take him to the Sebin’s Caracas headquarters.

“We Democrats will remain on war footing,” he said.

This is a developing news story, please check back for updates. </s> CARACAS, Venezuela — A former intelligence chief in Venezuela who is one of the government’s most prominent figures turned against President Nicolás Maduro on Thursday, calling him a dictator with a corrupt inner circle that has engaged in drug trafficking and courted the militant group Hezbollah.

In interviews with The New York Times, the former intelligence chief, Hugo Carvajal, 58, who is a congressman in the governing Socialist Party, urged the military to break with the president ahead of a showdown with the opposition on Saturday over Mr. Maduro’s blockade of aid shipments on the country’s borders.

“It has been more than enough,” Mr. Carvajal said in a statement, which was also released in a video online on Thursday and addressed to Mr. Maduro. “You have killed hundreds of young people in the streets for trying to claim the rights you stole. This without even counting the dead for lack of medicines and security.”

“To the generals,” he added, “how is it that having the power to allow the entry of international humanitarian aid to our country to save lives, you would decide not to? Would you be so inhuman? So hypnotized?” </s> The director of the Carabineros, Chile's militarized national police, submitted his resignation Monday to new President Sebastian Piñera amid embezzlement and evidence-tampering scandals plaguing the force.

"I have accepted the resignation of Bruno Villalobos from the position of director general of the Carabineros as part of our program to become more efficient in fighting crime, drug trafficking and terrorism," Piñera told the press at La Moneda palace. </s> Bachelet “concerned” about the arrest of Venezuelan journalist and activist Luis Carlos Díaz

Luis Carlos Diaz, a Venezuelan journalist who is an expert in networks and critical of the Nicolás Maduro regime, was arrested on Monday, without capture order, by the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) after leaving his radio program, denounced his wife and colleague Naky Soto. On Tuesday, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, referred to the arrest and asked the authorities for “urgent access” for her technical mission in Venezuela to Díaz.

I am deeply concerned about the alleged detention of the reputed journalist by the Venezuelan intelligence services, and for his well-being, the High Commissioner said on Twitter.

Since Monday, the technical work mission of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) prior to Bachelet's visit has been in Venezuela. The work team will meet with government leaders, representatives of the National Assembly, with civil society organizations and with victims of human rights violations, the international organization told in a press release.

Diaz, who is accused by the Maduro’s regime of committing computer crimes by participating in alleged sabotage to the Venezuelan electricity grid that has left most of the country in shadows since last week, is being held at El Helicoide, intelligence headquarters.

On Monday, Diosdado Cabello, Chavismo strong man and president of the pro-government National Constituent Assembly, showed a video on his television program Con el Mazo Dando where the prominent journalist appears explaining what a blackout is, accusing him of having explained the plan that an opposition sector used to generate the “sabotage” that was recorded on Thursday.

Díaz was missing for several hours. Neither his wife nor his colleagues knew anything about him until the SEBIN showed up with him handcuffed in his house, to conduct a raid in which they seized and removed computers, pen drives, cell phones, money, and a hard drive, his wife reported. </s> US State Department head Mike Pompeo has suffered a public meltdown, reacting forcefully that the constitutional government of Venezuela actually arrested a key member of the upper house of parliament (AN) -Pompeo reached out to world media, announcing that the Venezuelan courts moves were an "Unacceptable and illegal step."Mike Pompeo denounced the detention by Venezuelan authorities of the now-former Vice-Speaker of the National Assembly, Edgar Zambrano. In a statement released last night, Pompeo describes as an "arbitrary" and "unacceptable and illegal act" the arrest of the politician, first vice president of the National Assembly of Venezuela, which took place this Wednesday night in Caracas, at the hands of SEBIN agents.Despite Pompeo's public tantrum, widely viewed as hypocritical,According to witnesses, bodies of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN) arrived at the main headquarters of the Acción Democrática party, to which Zambrano belongs. The deputy was in his vehicle, who refused to step outside. It was then that SEBIN officials pulled the deputy's car with a crane, and in a raucous scene, he was arrested by SEBIN while in his car, taken by tow-truck. It should be noted that Diosdado Cabello confirmed the arrest of Zambrano on the same Wednesday night.- the legislative body in Venezuela comparable to the house of commons or the house of representatives - authorized legislation which the executive branch and courts approved, whichwhich were previously enjoyed by members of both houses.FRN reported yesterdayThe head of the National Assembly, the leader of the opposition, Juan Guaido , announced his arrest.Earlier, Guaido acknowledged the failure of the coup attempt, which he says occurred due to the refusal of the military to go over to the side of the self-proclaimed president.Likewise, the(AN), an instance that has been in contempt since 2016, for their participation in the coup attempt. Among them, the first vice president of the AN, Edgar Zambrano.The other seven opposition deputies, whose parliamentary immunity was raided are: Herry Ramos, Luis Florido, Richard Blanco, Marianela Magallanes, Américo De Grazia, Andres Velazques and José Calzadilla. </s> Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó has reportedly been detained by the country's intelligence agents, two days after he was declared the interim President of Venezuela by the disempowered National Assembly.

"Alert the world and the country that today # 13Ene a SEBIN command intercepted the President of the National Assembly of Venezuela @jguaido and we do not know his whereabouts," a message on Guaidó's official Twitter account reads.

Later in the day, Organization of American States (OAS) President Luis Almagro accused Venezuelan authorities of kidnapping Guaido.

"[We] totally condemn and reject the kidnapping of Venezuelan interim president Juan Guaido. The international community must stop the crimes of [Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro and his henchmen," Almagro tweeted.

Maduro has faced criticism from a number of states after his re-election in May, with some countries claiming that the vote was illegitimate, something vehemently denied by Caracas.

Earlier in January, the Peruvian Foreign Ministry said following the meeting of the Lima Group foreign ministers that the union did not recognize the legitimacy of Maduro's new presidential term that will begin on January 10 and urged him to call a new presidential election. </s> In a video released on social media, Hugo Carvajal, a Venezuelan congressman and a former intelligence chief in Venezuela, urged the military to reject President Nicolás Maduro.
The Venezuelan Intelligence Agency, SEBIN, names a new director, General Manuel Cristopher, in the wake of the death of Fernando Albán.