Venezuelans fear for relatives after mass arrests Leave a comment

“I haven’t been able to see him. Or give him food. Or hand him his clothes. I don’t know if he has been beaten. I don’t know if he has bathed. Or eaten.”

‘Isabella’, who did not want to be named, is desperately worried for her son.

Through tears, she explains that he, 28, and his girlfriend, 17, were arrested and beaten after the family joined a march in Caracas protesting against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro the day after Sunday’s presidential election.

Mr Maduro claimed victory, which was instantly disputed by the opposition who say they have evidence from electronic voting machines that they, not the government, won.

They and many governments around the world have demanded proof from President Maduro that he won the election.

He has said he will publish the vote tallies, but not when.

Opposition leader María Corina Machado has called for protests “in every city” in Venezuela on Saturday against President Maduro and the disputed election result.

She said on social media “we must remain firm, organised and mobilised with the pride of having achieved a historic victory on 28 July”.

The government has said Ms Machado should be arrested.

It comes after Ms Machado wrote in the Wall Street Journal she is in “hiding” and fearing for her “life” and “freedom.”

Isabella has very little information about her son. She has been waiting anxiously outside the police station where she believes he is, hoping for answers.

She says on Monday the National Guard “unjustly grabbed” her son and others at the march:

“They were not harming anyone. They did not have stones. They did not have weapons. They only protested.

“They beat him. They accused them of being terrorists for defending their country, for wanting change,” she says.

“We went out to march because we want a change, because we can no longer stand this government. There is so much misery, so much hunger, so much crime, so much injustice towards innocent people, many people dying in hospitals.”

She shows us a photograph of her granddaughter who she says died in December last year because there was no oxygen for treatment in the hospital where she was.

“There were 12 children who died because there was no oxygen,” she says.

“I want Venezuela to be the same as before, where we work with dignity. Where we earned a decent salary. Where our children and grandchildren could study. My daughter and son left university because there are no teachers.

“The government does not want kids to study, it wants us to continue in misery, to be ignorant, to not speak out. How is it possible that you go to a hospital and you have to buy everything? There is no oxygen. There is nothing.”

She said her son was accused of “terrorism” which can carry a sentence of years in prison, but she says the government has no evidence.The disputed vote sparked anti-government protests across Venezuela

“There are 11 minors here,” he said.

“It’s totally illegal. This is not actually a prison, it’s just a police station. It’s not possible for lawyers to get in. No one has had the opportunity to see these people that are being detained, we don’t know the conditions.”

The judiciary in Venezuela is controlled by the government.

“The people detained are not allowed private defenders. Public defenders are part of the state. So the one who accused you, is the one who defends you,” he added.

He said that many of the families who he is representing had relatives detained for just “walking in the street” on the day of protests, adding the purpose was “intimidation” of the Venezuelan people.

Foro Penal have verified and identified 711 people who have been detained and 11 people who have died since 29 August when protests began.