Nicolás Maduro raises the tone and announces the creation of two maximum-security prisons

Nicolas Maduro, at a press conference with international media after the presidential election, at the Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas on July 31, 2024 - AFP/FEDERICO PARRA

Enrique Fernández

02 de agosto de 2024 (11:06 h.)

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In a statement from the Miraflores Palace, the Venezuelan leader has assured that "there will be no forgiveness or contemplation"

After more than three days of protests in the streets of the country's main cities, Nicolás Maduro announced that he is willing to create two maximum security prisons, which he hopes can "become productive farms".

With more than 16 dead, 800 wounded, 1,200 arrested and 150 prisoners behind him, the Venezuelan leader assured that more than 1,000 protesters, whom Maduro described as "criminals and terrorists", have yet to be arrested. In addition, the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) claimed that all those arrested were "drugged and armed", in an attempt to justify himself in front of the cameras. He also claimed that 85% of the detainees are foreigners and that 80% of the protesters did not vote.

Members of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) riot squad advance in the Chacao neighbourhood as opponents of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro take part in a demonstration, in Caracas July 30, 2024 - AFP/YURI CORTEZ

Repression in Venezuela is increasing. Since the announcement by the National Electoral Council (CNE), the military and police presence on the streets of Venezuela has increased. According to UHN, more than 10 flights from Cuba have been monitored and sources have confirmed that Cuban military personnel were on these flights. Of these flights that took off from Havana to Caracas, at least four of them were not known to be scheduled, according to the FlightRadar24 flight app.

At the same time, dozens of flights bound for Argentina were diverted to Peru. Chilean and Argentinian diplomatic staff have posted on social media, specifically on X, how their documentation was withheld for more than 24 hours.

Protesting the election results that gave Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro a third term in office, in Maracaibo, Venezuela, on July 30, 2024 - AFP/ISAAC URRUTIA

"I am preparing two prisons that I should have ready in 15 days, they are already being prepared," Maduro said in an event broadcast on state-run VTV channel. "All the guarimberos (protesters) are going to the Aragua Penitentiary Centre (Tocorón) and the Carabobo Judicial Prison (Tocuyito), maximum security prisons," he added, referring to two prisons that were for years under the control of criminal gangs until they were occupied by law enforcement last year.

More than 1,000 people have been arrested since protests erupted against Maduro's re-election, which the opposition calls fraudulent.

"We have arrested more than 1,200 people and we are looking for another 1,000 people and we will arrest them all because they have been trained in the US, in Texas, in Colombia, in Peru and in Chile," tense international negotiations demanding greater transparency of the audit, the president said. "They want to turn Venezuela into another Haiti. We still have a long way to go, they will build roads," he added about the "re-education" to be carried out in these prisons.

The opposition, led by María Corina Machado and candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, condemned "the regime's escalation of brutality and repression". At the height of the protests, clashes erupted in which statues of the late president Hugo Chávez and several giant posters depicting Maduro appeared on streets across the country.

But the statements by the chavista, who has spoken out daily against the opposition and the international community, contradict images circulating on social media and reports by an independent NGO, which counted 711 arbitrary arrests and 11 deaths since Sunday.

Venezuelan opposition leader Maria Corina Machado (C) and opposition presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia wave alleged voting records during a demonstration outside the United Nations headquarters in Caracas on July 30, 2024 - AFP/YURI CORTEZ

Of the non-fatal victims, most were protesters and 74 of them teenagers, although cases involving politicians, dissidents and election witnesses were also reported. All of them were held incommunicado, without legal protection and some even showed signs of having been tortured.

In response, an association of eight groups of non-governmental organisations demanded "respect for and guarantee of the rights to freedom of expression, assembly and peaceful protest", as well as an end to the abuse of force by the Bolivarian National Guard and the Bolivarian National Police.

Freddy Superlano, of the Voluntad Popular party, was one of the names most often bandied about in recent days, after hooded officers of the regime kidnapped him on Tuesday morning.

Members of the Bolivarian National Police stand guard at the Tocoron prison in Tocoron, Aragua state, Venezuela, 23 September 2023 - AFP/YURI CORTEZ

After more than 48 hours without news of the politician, the vice president of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, Diosdado Cabello, confirmed his deprivation of liberty and scoffed at rumours of torture. "He is detained and speaking very well, he is bilingual," he said.

Following a series of reports and videos shared by citizens, a group of eight humanitarian organisations issued a joint statement warning of the "documented disproportionate use of force by Venezuelan security forces" and demanding "to respect and guarantee the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly and protest", and called on the authorities to "refrain from criminalising protests and fully respect international standards and norms on the use of force".