Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado denounced this Wednesday (24) threats of “extrajudicial execution” against political prisoners held in the El Rodeo prison, near Caracas. According to the 2025 Nobel Peace Prize winner, the intimidation comes from agents linked to the Nicolás Maduro dictatorship and puts the lives of prisoners at immediate risk.
The complaint was reinforced by a report from the human rights NGO Venezuelan Prison Observatory. The document states that prison guards threatened to use political prisoners as “human shields” in the event of a possible United States intervention in the country.
In her account on X, María Corina held the Maduro regime responsible for any physical or psychological damage that may occur to the prisoners. She also demanded an urgent reaction from international organizations and called on democratic governments to increase diplomatic pressure on Caracas to guarantee the safety of those detained. “There are lives at risk now,” he said.
The episode occurs amid increased tension in the region following the military mobilization ordered by American President Donald Trump in the Caribbean and the Pacific, which resulted in the destruction of more than 30 vessels linked to drug trafficking. Maduro’s government classified the operation as an “invasion threat” and an attempt to change the regime in the country.
