International • • • 🌿 Progressive

Campamento de carpas con velas encendidas junto al muro perimetral con alambre de púas de una prisión venezolana al anochecer
Familiares de detenidos mantienen su campamento junto al penal Rodeo I a la espera de excarcelaciones. · Imagen generada por EPM

Machado at Rodeo I: 302 days waiting for Venezuela's political prisoners

María Corina Machado visited the relatives' camp beside Rodeo I, read a list of 406 prisoners accounting for 1,756 years in prison and promised not to rest…

--- The context --- Relatives of detainees have spent 302 days in tents beside Rodeo I prison, in Miranda state, near Caracas. The camp began after the release promise announced in January by the government led by Delcy Rodríguez, and it keeps a continuous protest alive while families wait for that promise to reach every case. --- The facts --- Opposition leader María Corina Machado visited the camp on Friday and promised she will not rest until the last political prisoner, civilian and military, obtains full freedom. She read a list of 406 political prisoners and warned that those names alone account for 1,756 years of prison, while noting that the registry does not include every case because some families do not report detentions out of fear. Machado ended the visit on a hillside near the prison, where relatives shout messages to the detainees. Using a megaphone, she promised not to leave them alone and called for reparations and guarantees of non-repetition, as prisoners answered with shouts for justice and freedom. --- The positions --- Activist Diego Casanova, of the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners, said about 100 political prisoners remain in Rodeo I and that between 20 and 30 relatives keep the camp going. The organization Foro Penal counted 322 people detained for political reasons as of October 9, and opposition leader Juan Pablo Guanipa considered United States intervention decisive to achieve new releases. --- What remains unknown --- Rodeo I has been described by non-governmental organizations as a torture center. José Miguel Estrada is held there, accused in 2018 of alleged participation in a drone attack against Nicolás Maduro. His mother, Soraida González, recounted that her son had toenails and teeth pulled out, was hung for up to 12 hours and suffered beatings and electric shocks, and she explained that visits now last 20 minutes on Sundays, through glass and by telephone, without hoods anymore. --- Unanswered questions --- When will the releases promised in January be completed for every person detained for political reasons? What effective guarantees will families who still fear reporting a detention have so their cases are counted? Will there be reparations and guarantees of non-repetition for those who have denounced torture at Rodeo I? --- EPM analysis --- The strength of this protest lies in its endurance: 302 days in tents turn an official promise into a debt measured in time, names and years. González's testimony is a sober reminder that behind every case file there is a family that still counts its Sundays in minutes. 📌 EPM Take: In EPM's view, the camp beside Rodeo I is already far more than a protest: it is a living record of a promise left unfulfilled for 302 days. Every name read aloud, every one of the 1,756 years counted and every 20-minute visit shows that promised full freedom admits no partial releases and no forgetting. While civilian and military political prisoners remain, and families sleep in tents afraid to report cases, the demand must stay complete, verifiable and relentless until the very last case is resolved.
📤 Share on Telegram

¿Te gustó este artículo? Recibe cobertura global en tu correo.

Suscríbete gratis / Subscribe free