Mexico City – President Nicolás Maduro and members of his inner circle have been the targets of several plots since last year that could result in injury or worse, as the Venezuelan government believes.
Few details about the alleged plot have been released. But the government has named them in more than 30 arrests since January, including prominent human rights lawyers and staffers of the main opposition presidential candidate.
Local and international non-governmental groups, the United Nations and foreign governments say the crackdown comes ahead of a July 28 presidential election in which Maduro, who has been in power since 2013, is seeking a new six-year term. They say it is a pretext to suppress political opposition.
The arrests were made on Wednesday, just before the country's top prosecutor announced arrest warrants for nine people collaborating with Machado's camp for participating in a conspiracy.
Óscar Murillo, general coordinator of Venezuelan human rights group Provea, said authorities were coordinating the actions of police, military and civil society to quell the uprising.
“This has led to an escalation of political repression and a deepening of persecutory policies aimed at destroying civil society, at a time when it would probably be ideal to be talking about the public policies needed to reverse poverty and inequality in Venezuela.” said Murillo. He said.
Attorney General Tarek William Saab has variously described the plot as aimed at attacking military facilities, killing Maduro and other officials, and destabilizing the country. He publicly presented purported confessions, planning documents, a laptop and other items he cited as evidence.
Saab on Wednesday accused nine rebels, including Machado's campaign chief, of taking part in a “destabilizing” plan, including demonstrations, media campaigns and plans to attack military barracks. He said two of the nine, Dignora Hernández and Henry Albiarez, Machado's political coordinator and national coordinator, respectively, had already been arrested.
The arrests of Mr. Hernández and Mr. Albiarez bring to at least six Machado employees now in custody on suspicion of participating in a conspiracy that the government claims to have thwarted.
Allowing Mr. Machado, a free-market supporter, to run in July's elections would be a competitive advantage for Venezuela, as no other candidate has the support, funds or political machinery to challenge Mr. Maduro. It will be an opportunity for But the self-proclaimed socialist government has banned her from public office for 15 years, an executive order upheld by the country's highest court in January.
Other opposition politicians in Venezuela have urged Mr. Machado to step aside for another candidate, but Mr. Machado has insisted on continuing his candidacy, likely due to international pressure and a ban imposed by Venezuela's ruling elite. They are probably hoping that the rules will be relaxed.
“If you believe that the regime is trying to isolate me with these actions, let me be clear: My team is Venezuela,” she told reporters on Wednesday. She added that her own campaign continues to be organized across the country and that she expects “more than just well wishes” from the international community.
Machado defended his staff and stressed that all allegations against them are false.
The government has not released charging documents detailing the charges against dozens of defendants in the conspiracy case. Although court hearings are open to the public under Venezuelan law, the public, journalists and, in some cases, even the defendant's chosen lawyer are barred from entering the courtroom.
President Maduro has claimed that the US government was behind the plot to assassinate him.
Dozens of people detained earlier this year on charges stemming from the conspiracy included human rights lawyer Rocio San Miguel, whom Saab identified as a “spy” in one of the plots. Saab also accused her of having more than a dozen maps highlighting military locations that she shouldn't know about.
“Should the nation let its guard down and proceed with an operation that will bleed the country?” Saab said days after San Miguel's arrest on February 9.
San Miguel's lawyer, Juan Gonzalez, has not been allowed to see her since her arrest, but said at the initial hearing that she denied all charges.
Wednesday's detention comes after an independent panel of experts investigating human rights abuses in Venezuela told the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva that Maduro's government has no real opponents or opponents ahead of this year's presidential elections. This came hours after reports of an intensification of the crackdown on suspected victims.
“As has happened in the past, our team found that authorities are using real and imagined conspiracies to intimidate, detain and prosecute those who oppose or criticize the government,” the team said. Commission President Marta Valinhas told the council that authorized the investigation team. “At the same time, the Attorney General's Office continues to function as part of the government's repression apparatus to legitimate the persecution of critical voices.”
The commission reported last year that Maduro's government was using smear campaigns, detention, arbitrary criminal procedures, and even torture to suppress democratic freedoms ahead of elections.
“In some cases, acts of torture and ill-treatment were aimed at extracting fabricated confessions and false statements,” the commission said in its report.
Maduro became interim president in March 2013 following the death of charismatic leader Hugo Chávez. He narrowly won an election a few weeks later and was re-elected in 2018 in an election process widely criticized as fraudulent.
This country is not without its history of conspiracies against the government.
Less than three months after being re-elected, Maduro has tied opposition leaders to what the government says was an assassination attempt on the president in which an explosive-laden drone detonated during a live televised speech. In 2020, his administration thwarted an armed invasion to overthrow him, but the attempt ended in the deaths of six rebels and the imprisonment of two former Green Berets.
A series of recent arrests threatens to unravel a political agreement negotiated last year between the U.S. government, the opposition it supports, and President Maduro.
The October agreement focused on conditions for free and fair elections and gave President Maduro some relief from U.S. economic sanctions on the country's oil, gas and mining sectors. But hopes for a more level playing field began to fade soon after, with the US already withdrawing bailouts to the gold mining industry, citing Maduro's failure to do so.
President Joe Biden's administration has given Maduro until late April to comply with the deal or hope for an end to the remaining bailouts that will hurt the country's oil-dependent economy.
Earlier this month, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Brian Nichols told attendees at a Washington-based think tank committee that the “incentives” offered by the U.S. and other countries would “motivate” Maduro toward competitive policies. It wasn't enough,” he said. election. On Wednesday, he called for the immediate release of “all those who are being unjustly detained.”
“While President Maduro's attacks on civil society and political actors are escalating and are in direct contradiction to the commitments of the Barbados Agreement, they will not stifle the democratic aspirations of the Venezuelan people,” Nichols tweeted. did.
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