VENEZUELA: Political prisoners released
Thank you for reading LatinNews' chosen article from the Latin American Weekly - 21 November 2024
The release of up to 225 political prisoners in Venezuela was unexpectedly announced by Attorney General Tarek William Saab on 17 November. Saab gave no explanation for their liberation other than to claim that new evidence had come to light. However, it seems possible that President Nicolás Maduro’s government was attempting to redress some of the huge reputational damage it has faced since the 28 July presidential election, which it is widely regarded as having stolen, and the fierce repression that ensued thereafter.
Saab said that 225 prisoners who had been arrested in the aftermath of the presidential elections have been released in the wake of “exhaustive investigations based on new evidence”. President Maduro gave a similar explanation the following day, saying that “if someone’s innocence is proven, there needs to be swift and reparatory justice”. Maduro denied that there had been any discussions with the political opposition regarding the release of the prisoners, saying that the surprise announcement did not follow “any negotiation with the fascist sectors”.
So far, the Venezuelan human rights NGO Foro Penal has verified the release of 131 prisoners. Saab said on 20 November that more prisoners could be released shortly, stating that “other actions like this could be carried out” where there are not “convincing signs” of criminal wrongdoing.
The claim that new evidence has come to light was highly dubious. The overwhelming majority of arrests that took place following the election were arbitrary, either taking place during roundups at anti-government protests or as part of the sinister Operación Tun Tun (‘Operation Knock-Knock’) which saw opposition demonstrators and activists arrested at home in the weeks after the election.
Instead, the prisoner release was likely a show of magnanimity aimed at turning the page on the post-election repression, which has wrecked Maduro’s diplomatic alliances with Brazil and Colombia. With the protest movement having been subdued months ago by mass arrests and harsh treatment of detainees, and with the opposition candidate Edmundo González forced into exile in Spain, the government may feel that it is in a secure enough position to release a number of the less ‘troublesome’ political prisoners in a show of goodwill.
The prisoners’ release also came amid mounting scrutiny over the treatment of detainees after two political prisoners died in custody in October and November. Jesús Martínez, an opposition poll-watcher who was arrested on 30 July, died on 14 November, after allegedly being denied treatment for diabetes while he was in prison.
This followed the death of Edwin Santos, a leading activist for the opposition Voluntad Popular (VP), in Apure state. Santos was found dead in San Cristóbal in the neighbouring state of Táchira on 25 October, two days after he was reportedly arrested by officers from the military counterintelligence agency (DGCIM).
Prisoner release
Those prisoners released on 17 November appear to have been mostly young protesters, rather than the opposition activists who coordinated the initially strong resistance to President Maduro after the election.
González reiterates plan to return to Venezuela
Exiled opposition candidate Edmundo González once again said on 18 November that he intends to return to Venezuela for the official presidential inauguration on 10 January, saying that this would be “a day for all Venezuelans to come together”. Whilst González’s return could reinvigorate the protest movement, it would be an extraordinarily risky move given the criminal charges that he faces. The following day, in an interview with the Colombian television channel NTN24, he said that “my inauguration will take place in line with the constitution in Venezuela, in front of the legislative bodies that are approved to carry out this inauguration”. He denied that he was planning to be ‘inaugurated’ abroad and form a government-in-exile.
US strengthens support for González
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has signalled a new level of support for Edmundo González, the opposition candidate widely believed to have won Venezuela’s election. In a social media post on 19 November, Blinken said that “the Venezuelan people spoke resoundingly on 28 July and made Edmundo González the president-elect”.
It is unclear whether President Joe Biden’s administration intends to formally recognise González as Venezuela’s president on 10 January, the date of Venezuela’s presidential inauguration ceremony.
This would echo the largely symbolic recognition by the US of Juan Guaidó as ‘interim president’ in 2019, and it would be one of the final diplomatic acts of the Biden administration before President-elect Donald Trump takes office on 20 January.
The recognition of Guaidó as interim president during Trump’s first term (2017-2021) failed to loosen Maduro’s grip on power and ultimately had little impact beyond a handful of state-controlled companies based outside of Venezuela, which fell under opposition control. It arguably strengthened Maduro’s hand by allowing him to portray Guaidó as a US puppet and to denounce the opposition’s mismanagement of the Colombia-headquartered state fertiliser company Monómeros.
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