Opponent leader María Corina Machado reported, on Tuesday (22), a “brutal wave of repression” in Venezuela with “more than 20 missing and arrested in 72 hours”, attributed to the dictatorial regime of Nicolás Maduro, and said that international justice “has an obligation to hold the authors responsible”.
Through the social network X, the former deputy shared a statement denouncing “a new repressive wave” since last Friday, when Venezuela released a group of political prisoners and ten Americans after the release of the 252 migrants who were detained in El Salvador.
Since then, she claims that there have been more than 20 arrests, including people linked to the majority opposition, as well as the presidential election polling stations of 28, 2024, in which the Antichavista Unit Platform (PUD) denounced as the “fraudulent” the proclaimed reelection of Maduro. At the time, the opposition made available a copy of voting minutes that prove that it has won the election and that several countries, such as the United States and Argentina, consider that Edmundo González won the dispute.
“This already reiterated standard confirms the policy of the ‘revolving door’, selectively releasing some to incarcerate others. Repression does not cease, only redistributes,” the statement says.
In addition, Machado said the deprivation of liberty continues to be used as a “political negotiation tool in the midst of selective hostage and punishment diplomacy.”
“We reiterate the urgent appeal to the international community to act on what happens in Venezuela. External pressure has been key to containing the persecution in the past, but it is no longer enough while the background problem persists: more than 900 people remain arrested and missing for political reasons,” he added.
The Venezuelan opposition considers that the international community and human rights bodies “should further increase their actions so that the regime feels the high cost of repression.”
“It is indispensable to use all the tools available against a repressive apparatus that no longer hesitates to persecute, kidnap, make it disappear and torture, making known to the perpetrators that they will be responsible for their acts and will be accountable for their crimes,” he concluded.
