Venezuela: Chavismo Intensifies Repression Through Arrests and Suppression of Protesters – Venezuela – International

In Venezuela alone, at least 34 people were detained in 2024 on charges of treason and terrorism., charges of alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate President Nicolás Maduro; According to the official version, to Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino Lopez and other government officials.

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There are recent detainees Roquio San Miguel, a human rights activist and expert on military, security and defense issues, and his former partner Alejandro González de CanalesA retired military man.

San Miguel, whose defense has not been able to establish direct communication since she was detained last Friday at Maiketia Airport in Caracas, is being held at the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) in Helicoid in the country’s capital. for its part, Gonzalez de Canales He is also a private in the Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (Dgcim) in Caracas.

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is noteworthy Both centers have been designated as torture chambers according to those who have been deprived of their freedom in those dungeons..

According to the Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab, the arrest of San Miguel and his family group – along with five more people, four of whom were released under the regime of rendition – does not represent a violation of human rights, much less a forced disappearance. Because it has been condemned by many NGOs including its defense and Amnesty International.

(Continue reading: Relatives of Rocio San Miguel, accused of ‘terrorism’ in Venezuela, released from prison)

The arrest was made “within legal limits and in strict accordance with the law. A presentation hearing was held before the arrest warrant,” Saab said during a press conference yesterday, pointing to San Miguel, where other prisoners accused of being involved in the plot against Maduro, which is believed to be executed in December 2023. Associates of the scheme.

“Her mission was to communicate about terrorist actions unfolding in real time. In the telephone extraction, evidence has been found that links her to the plot, where she recognizes her role in the conspiracy,” Saab said.

for its part, San Miguel’s defense last night warned of a raid at the home of the victim with her 24-year-old daughter, who was released last Tuesday..

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Human rights organizations insist that the experience in San Miguel speaks for itself and that the prosecutor’s allegations are false.

For Claudia Carrillo, from the NGO Committee of Relatives of the Victims of Caracazo (COFAVIC), it is urgent that the government “end the measures of intimidation and humiliation against defenders”, especially since “women defenders are the main victims and are forced to disappear. The worst One of the methods.

According to Kofevik, with extensive experience in the defense of victims of disappearance, there have been 2,227 attacks against organizations and their representatives from 2018 to 2023, but these last three years have been the worst, with an increase in smear campaigns “and the use of the state mechanism of enforced disappearance, ” Carrillo insisted yesterday during a demonstration demanding the liberation of San Miguel.

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These new arrests have caused an international uproar, especially because of the way they were carried out, some more media-friendly than others, for example, on the island of Margarita in the north of the country, it was found. The arrest of engineer Carlos Salazar, for recording Alex Saab in a shopping center store and publishing it on the network, and his whereabouts were known only this Wednesday. But there are no details about Salazar yet.

The United States, the European Union and several other countries have demanded that Nicolás Maduro not only abide by the Barbados accord he struck with the opposition in October, but Guarantee and respect civil rights, as well as release political prisoners, who today number more than 270 according to the records of the Foro Penal Institute..

is the truth These arbitrary decisions in the middle of an election year will raise tensions with Washington, which 15 days ago threatened to reimpose sanctions on Venezuela’s energy sector starting April 18 if Maria Corina Machado’s candidacy is not first rehabilitated or she is prevented from running by the opposition. freely in this year’s elections.

Although the warning of the return of sanctions was more directed at the election issue, the US Protesters are being arrested in another breach of the agreement reached in Barbados by the US and complicating the ongoing secret negotiations to find a way out of the impasse. .

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In fact, a US delegation led by National Security Adviser John Finner and President Joe Biden’s Latin America adviser, Juan Gonzalez, was in Bogota last week with the aim of finding channels of agreement with Maduro through the administration of Gustavo Petro. .

But Gonzalez resigned from his post, which could strain the dialogue processes between the Biden and Maduro administrations, as Colombia served as a bridge to move the talks forward.

Maduro has struck several blows in the negotiations. First, canceling the repatriation flights of Venezuelan citizens and, secondly, tightening the siege against his political rivals and opponents.s

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According to sources consulted by EL TIEMPO, what is being generated is a kind of train wreck in which the parties are raising the stakes as the days pass. However, from the perspective of the United States, there is little room for change if the regime does not reinstate Machado or accept another alternative capable of opposition.

Both the State Department and the White House have insisted over the past few days that the door is not closed and that Maduro still has time to change course.

Ana Maria Rodriguez Brazon
Time Correspondent
Caracas