Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado said on Tuesday that more than 20 people have been imprisoned by Venezuelan authorities in what she described as “a brutal wave of repression” and urged other countries to act.
“Since last Friday, more than 20 new arrests have been reported, including leaders linked to Comando Con Venezuela, as well as poll witnesses from the July 28 electoral process,” said the organization on July 22.
In the prisoner exchange, more than 250 Venezuelan men who had been deported from the United States and imprisoned in El Salvador were sent back to Venezuela, according to authorities.
The releases include 9 people from the Helicoide detention center, 37 from the Tocorón prison, 8 from the El Rodeo detention center, 1 from the Special Actions Force in Maturín, 1 from the Zone 34 Command in Guárico state, and 1 from the Criminal Judicial Circuit of Sucre.
Foro Penal regretted not having received an official list of those to be released as a result of the negotiations between the three countries, which would allow for more precise verification, “since at other times, people not registered as political prisoners, people who had already been released some time ago, and even people who had died in custody have been included,” the organization stated in a post on its Instagram account.
It also noted that of the 10 Americans released, one had not been registered as a political prisoner.
To date, no release of any of the alleged detained minors has been reported.
According to the report, Venezuela has entered “the gravest phase of political repression in its modern history,” as the regime tries to maintain power “through fear, violence and erasure,” primarily during the recent months surrounding the presidential elections on July 28, 2024.
The patterns observed and recorded by the OAS Panel also revealed “an alarming escalation, not only in the volume of abuses, but also in their sophistication, coordination, and level of violence,” the report states.