In the early morning of January 1, Nicolás Maduro raised his glass with his family. The “first combatant” and at the same time first lady, Cilia Flores, clashed hers with that of the Venezuelan president, who had asked for peace in the midst of the North American siege. At that time, the Committee of Mothers in Defense of the Truth learned that they were being 87 political prisoners released who were being held in the Tocorón prison, in Aragua state.
“We have been able to corroborate 47 so far, they tell us that there will be 87,” stated the NGO Encuentro y Perdón (JEP). The vice president of the Penal Forum, Gonzalo Himiob, said his organization was “verifying” the information. He recalled that those released will have “limited freedom, because they continue in trial and with precautionary measures.” The Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners (Clipp) noted in this regard: “Each release is a victory, but the repression continues. Most political prisoners remain behind bars, and the fight for full freedom does not stop until everyone is free.
According to the Penitentiary Ministry, people who were “deprived of liberty for crimes committed in the context of violent actions of extremist sectors, after the electoral process of July 28, 2024, aimed at generating destabilization and ignoring the sovereign will of the Venezuelan people.” The prison authority alluded to the protests unleashed by the refusal of the National Electoral Council (CNE) to present the minutes that validated Maduro’s victory at the polls while the opposition proclaimed his rival, Edmundo González Urrutia, the winner.
In the middle of the Christmas party, the Government reported on the release of 99 political prisoners. Foro Penal has warned, however, that only 61 were released from prison. The NGO counts more than 700 people still locked up due to the incidents at the end of July 2024.
The releases have been observed as an attempt by Madurismo to decompress the internal front in moments of extreme tension derived from the crisis unleashed with the sinking of vessels in the southern Caribbean by the United States, the “total blockade” of oil tankers sanctioned by Washington that enter or leave Venezuela and Donald Trump’s announcement of a first attack against the territory of the South American country with drones managed by the CIA.
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