Protesters were detained during demonstrations questioning Nicolás Maduro’s victory in the elections
Venezuelan authorities announced this Monday the release of more than 500 people, of the 2,400 detained during the post-election protests in the country. Protesters were arrested in July after questioning President Nicolás Maduro’s victory in the elections. The opposing candidate, Edmundo González Urrutia, claims to have won by a wide margin.
According to the Venezuelan Attorney General’s Office, 179 prisoners were released between December 10th and 14th, bringing the total number of prisoners released to 533. The non-governmental organization (NGO) Foro Penal, however, claims that it has managed to confirm only 328 releases to date.
Among those detained, more than 100 teenagers were accused of terrorism and sent to maximum security prisons as part of the crackdown that ended the protests. Family members denounce that the young people suffered torture during detention. In October, mothers who visited the minors for the first time reported beatings, burns to the nipples and missing teeth in some cases.
Seven teenagers, aged between 14 and 17, were accused in hearings without access to private defense. The Maduro government classified them as terrorists and claimed they were hired by the opposition. According to the mothers, the authorities coerced the teenagers to record videos with the official version of an alleged conspiracy, claiming they had received 30 dollars (163 reais) to protest.
The Penal Forum registered 1,905 political prisoners in Venezuela at the beginning of December 2024, the highest number during the Chavista government, surpassing regimes such as those in Cuba and Nicaragua. Of this total, 23 people are missing and another 9,000 are under conditional release measures.
Human rights defenders denounce a pattern of repression known as the “revolving door” in Venezuela: while some prisoners are released, new opponents are detained. Last Tuesday, Jesús Armas, a member of the opposition campaign team, was kidnapped by hooded men in a restaurant in Caracas.
The Panel of Experts on Crimes against Humanity of the Organization of American States () reported the disappearance of Armas to the International Criminal Court (), which maintains an open investigation against Venezuela for alleged crimes against humanity. The secretary general of the OAS, Luis Almagro, held the Maduro government responsible for the opponent’s life.
Armas played a fundamental role in the opposition campaign, where he worked to organize a citizen network to defend González Urrutia’s votes and voting records, used to denounce alleged electoral fraud. In recent months, he has supported protests by mothers of political prisoners demanding their children’s release before Christmas.
The July protests resulted in 28 deaths and around 200 injuries. Only a few countries, such as Russia, Venezuela’s main ally, recognized Maduro’s re-election. The United States and the European Parliament recognized González Urrutia as “president-elect”, while the G7 (United States, Canada, Italy, Germany, United Kingdom, Japan and France) consider him the winner of the elections, without officially recognizing him as president-elect. .
