“You will be the first to be executed. We will kill them if asset attack our president Wall. And if they denounce or speak to the press, we will put them back in prison and we will also go after their families. SO … Chavista jailers threaten the 71 political prisoners they released this Thursday and the 900 who are still held in terror behind bars.
These threats were confirmed to ABC by relatives of those detained for political reasons. they are Diego Casanova And Andréina Baduelmembers of the NGO Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners (CLIPP), who are relatives and representatives of those who have been released and those who remain in prison.
The unusual and cruel way of using political prisoners as human shields, threatened by jailers to escape military pressure and threats from the United States, has also been previously denounced by the leader. Maria Corina Machado in your social network account
“In recent hours, I have received reports of direct and systematic threats of extrajudicial execution against political prisoners held in the prison of The rodeoin Venezuela,” declared the Nobel Peace Prize winner.
“These threats come from officials of the regime’s repressive organs and constitute crimes against humanity, serious violations of international humanitarian law and a imminent risk to people’s lives “who are today the hostages of the State,” Machado added. “The regime is responsible for any physical and psychological damage resulting from these threats,” warned the opposition leader.
Everything indicates that Maduro released 71 political prisoners following the US president’s warning that “if the Venezuelan president acts with firmness, it will be the last time he does so.”
The Mothers’ Committee for Defense of the Truth was the first to report that since the early hours of Christmas Day, many people arrested for protesting the fraud in last year’s presidential elections have been released. So far, the release of 65 men detained in prison has been confirmed. strainthree women in Chrysalids and three teenagers La Guaira.
On July 28 last year, Venezuelans went to vote en masse in the presidential elections, which the opposition candidate won with 70% of the vote, Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutiasupported by leader María Corina. This is evidenced by the only electoral registers published so far. But Nicolás Maduro did not recognize the results and assumed his third presidency. For demonstrating against this fraud, some 2,400 Venezuelans were arrested.
After the massive post-election repression came a selective crackdown on dissidents and political leaders. Thus, the revolving door of political prisoners, some leaving and others entering, has operated according to the strategic convenience and circumstances of the Maduro regime. This is the case of the recent American military deployment off the coast of Venezuela.
This week, nearly a hundred detainees were released under the monthly judicial presentation regime. They are prohibited from speaking to the press. The terror and fear experienced during a year and a half in prison continue to be present upon his parole.
“This news fills our hearts with joy and fills us with hope. This shows us that the fight always pays off and encourages us to continue tirelessly until we bring back all those who are still missing. This is an important achievement, but insufficient, so We demand total freedom for all through a general amnesty», added the Mothers Committee on its Instagram account.
horror of prisons
Diego Casanova, 30, member of CLIPP, has a brother released nine months ago. The profile of those released this week indicates: “The majority are young people between 25 and 30 years old, poor, who were arrested in the street without having participated in the post-election demonstrations. The women had been arrested for their links with politicians. None can speak to the press or report their case. “They were threatened.”
Casanova tells ABC of the horror experienced in prisons: “The majority of political prisoners express having suffered cruel mental and physical violence. The jailers tell them: you will never get out of here, you will languish in prison. They are also isolated and separated from common prisoners.
“The food is bad and they are entitled to a five-liter bottle of drinking water every 15 days. They have a daily shift of 20 minutes to bathe, wash their clothes, cook and go to the toilet. If they do not comply and rebel, they are punished by solitary confinement. They tell them that they will be the first to kill, as well as their loved ones, if they speak or report their case on social networks or if the Trump administration attacks President Maduro,” explains Casanova.
Andreína Baduel, daughter of the dissident and former Minister of Defense Raúl Badueldied in prison in 2021, is coordinator of the CLIPP committee and has a brother in prison: Josmar Adolfo Baduel, detained at Helicalthe largest torture center in Venezuelan prisons.
“The food is bad and they are entitled to a five-liter bottle of drinking water every 15 days. They have a daily shift of 20 minutes to bathe, wash their clothes, cook and go to the toilet. If they do not comply and rebel, they are punished by solitary confinement. »
Diego Casanova
Member of the NGO Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners
“My brother Josmar is sick, he needs 3 operations and is not receiving any medical care,” he says. “The relatives of political prisoners are also victims, as we are subjected to conditions of siege and horror. They undress us women to see if we are wearing anything. They hood us so that we can visit them and see them through a window,” says Andreína. Her laments are as devastating as they are worrying: “It’s hard, very hard and alarming. “Chavismo has violated all the human rights of political prisoners and I fear that my brother will end up like my father.”
About The Author
