Venezuelan intelligence agents arrested on Monday the public management coordinator of Vamos Venezuela, a party led by opposition leader and Nobel Peace Prize winner María Corina Machado, the organization reported on social media. In Venezuela, there are at least 889 “political prisoners”, according to the NGO “Foro Penal”, which leads the legal defense in most of these cases. Human rights advocates warn of systematic patterns of political persecution that include “arbitrary detentions” and “enforced disappearances.”
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The Vamos Venezuela Human Rights Commission denounced the “kidnapping” of Melquiades Pulido García by the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin). “The leader was arrested by a Sebin unit while he was walking. They told him he was wanted and took him away by force” Monday morning, he said on the X network.
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Pulido García suffers from Parkinson’s disease and “has a clotting problem that requires extreme medical care” to avoid heart problems, said the party, which demanded his immediate release and that of all political prisoners.
A team of UN experts warned in September of a resurgence of political persecution in recent months in Venezuela. Sebin arrested José Elías Torres, general coordinator of the country’s main union, and Nicmer Evans, director of the digital news portal Punto de Corte, last Saturday.
A group of relatives representing around 900 “political prisoners” demanded on Sunday the release of their loved ones by Christmas.
In recent weeks, the government of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has intensified repression in his country following numerous attacks by the United States on ships allegedly linked to drug trafficking in the Caribbean and Pacific region.
In addition to encouraging authorities to use apps to report people for “suspicious activity,” arrests on suspicion of dissent increased and regime-allied paramilitary groups, known as colectivos, were sent into poor neighborhoods to monitor residents and contain any opposition.
The presence of U.S. warships and troops in the region and President Donald Trump’s threats of military action on land have reinforced Maduro’s fears of an offensive aimed at ousting him from power – even though there are still divisions within the U.S. government over how to deal with the regime in Caracas. In response, he expanded the internal control practices that have sustained his government since the death of his predecessor and mentor, Hugo Chávez (1999–2013).
The Maduro regime has also expanded reporting mechanisms through an application that encourages citizens to report neighbors they consider suspicious, as revealed by the American channel CNN. Analysts say cash rewards encourage whistleblowers seeking benefits or demonstrations of loyalty to the government.
With international agencies.
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