Rocío San Miguel, activist and expert on military issues in Venezuelawas arrested when she was preparing to travel out of the country, they reported this Sunday human rights organizations and opposition politicianswithout the authorities having officially commented on the case.
The arrest of San Miguel, a 57-year-old lawyer and criticism of the government of President Nicolás Madurooccurred on Friday at the Simón Bolívar airport that serves Caracas, according to the first reports from activists.
“Consistent with our mandate, we demand his immediate freedom and We denounce that this new abuse is part of the painful practice of persecution against those who defend and exercise rights,” published the specialized NGO Provea.
Amnesty International, for its part, called for “immediate and unconditional freedom“.
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The Venezuelan prosecutor’s office has not yet commented on the case.
The retention occurs in a context of the Venezuelan government’s announcement of having neutralized five “conspiracies” of assassinationin those that the Venezuelan justice points out to the military, journalists and activists.
One of them, called “White Bracelet”, in which San Miguel is supposedly involved, consisted of the attack on a military base in Táchira, in the border with Colombiato take weapons and assassinate Chavismo leaders.
Maduro, who must seek re-election this year, frequently denounces plans to overthrow and assassinate him.
For these latest alleged conspiracies they go 36 arrested -12 for “White Bracelet”- and 22 people with arrest warrantsAttorney General Tarek William Saab said on January 26.
“We alert the world that the repressive onslaught of the Maduro regime continues,” condemned María Corina Machado, the main opposition figure facing the 2024 presidential elections, despite a political disqualification against her for 15 years.
The opposition leader, Henrique Capriles, also denounced that “once again the dynamics of terror, persecution, criminalization and arbitrariness for neutralize those who think differently“.
San Miguel won a case against Venezuela in 2018 before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Inter-American Court) for the violation of political rights and of expressionafter his dismissal from a public entity for supporting in 2003 the call for a recall referendum against the then president Hugo Chávez (1999-2013).
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According to the NGO Foro Penal, Venezuela has 261 “political prisoners”, including 18 women and 146 soldiers.
Last October, the government and the opposition signed a political agreement ahead of the presidential elections, which led to the release of 10 Americans and another 24 Venezuelans who were imprisoned in Venezuela for political reasons, in exchange for Alex Saab, accused of being Maduro’s front man. and who was detained in the United States on accusations of money laundering.