Venezuela says it released 99 people detained for 2024 election protests | Venezuela
Venezuela has announced its largest release of political prisoners this year, claiming to have released 99 people detained for participating in protests after the 2024 elections; they are believed to have been stolen by dictator Nicolás Maduro due to increasing military pressure from the United States.
Non-governmental organizations, on the other hand, approached the news cautiously, emphasizing that the evacuations were insufficient and noted that at least 900 political prisoners remained in the country.
The Maduro regime refuses to acknowledge the existence of political prisoners and in question In the early hours of Christmas Day, it had released 99 citizens who were “deprived of their freedom for participating in acts of violence and incitement to hatred following the election process of July 28, 2024.”
He framed the move as an expression of his so-called commitment to “peace” and “unlimited respect for human rights” at a time when the country was facing what he described as “imperialist encirclement and multilateral aggression” by the United States.
Beyond the deployment of nearly 15,000 troops and a massive naval fleet to the Venezuelan coast, the United States has intensified pressure in recent weeks with an “all-out blockade” of sanctioned oil tankers entering and exiting the country, the seizure of two ships and pursuit of a third, and air strikes on boats in the Caribbean and Pacific that have killed 105 people.
The prisoners were released after a while is climbing Internal repression, with almost no leading figures of the opposition released or still remaining in the country; for example, opposition leader María Corina Machado is in temporary exile after traveling to Norway to receive the Nobel peace prize.
In recent weeks alone, a political scientist, an activist and union leaders have been arrested, while last week 17-year-old Gabriel José Rodríguez Méndez became the first teenager convicted of “terrorism”, sentenced to 10 years in prison for participating in post-election protests.
Demonstrations broke out across the country after Maduro declared himself the winner with the support of electoral and state institutions under his control, despite the opposition candidate, retired diplomat Edmundo González Urrutia, presenting evidence of victory. He currently lives in exile in Spain.
As far as is known, neither the detained prominent opposition figures nor 17-year-old Méndez are among the 99 people allegedly released. It is stated that there are at least three young people in this group.
“The selective and discretionary nature of these evictions confirms that deprivation of liberty is used as a tool of political persecution,” said the NGO Justicia, Encuentro y Perdón. expression.
The NGO acknowledged the “positive impact” of the measure on the lives of those released, but said it was “clearly inadequate” given that hundreds of political prisoners remained, numbering between 900 and 1,000.
Committee for the Freedom of Social Combatants and Political Prisoners in question Most of those released will remain under “conditional” freedom, subject to precautionary measures such as travel bans, regular court hearings and restrictions on speaking to the media about their cases.
The committee and other groups also in question They have not yet independently confirmed that the number of people released is 99, suggesting the number may be lower.
