Forty-six people were arrested “arbitrarily” in the run-up to the July 28 presidential election in Venezuela, according to a local NGO. “46 arbitrary detentions for political reasons, 82% with short-term forced disappearances,” wrote Acceso a la Justicia (Access to Justice) in a report published Friday.
Eighteen of the 46 arrests are activists from the Vente (Come!) Venezuela party, of opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, who is ineligible but is leading the campaign of Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia, an unknown ambassador who agreed to replace her at short notice. “Others (detainees) belong to various opposition political parties. Some were arrested for providing services or selling goods to (members of) the opposition during their tours of the country or at political rallies,” the report added.
Edmundo Gonzalez Urrutia also denounced this Friday an increase in “persecutions and threats” against the opposition. “Thirty days before the electoral process (…) it is unacceptable,” he declared on X. Access to Justice also lists twelve political “disqualifications” (stripped of their functions) of mayors who had publicly expressed their support for Gonzalez Urrutia. Two municipal councilors were dismissed from their functions.
According to the opposition, the police tried to arrest the mayor of Ortiz, in the central state of Guarico, Franco Gerratana. Authorities also closed or inspected some 16 establishments (hotels, restaurants, bars) that served Maria Corina Machado and her team during her electoral tour, according to Acceso a la Justicia.
The Venezuelan government, for its part, accuses the opposition of conspiring and preparing acts of violence against President Nicolas Maduro, who is seeking a third term. Six collaborators of Maria Corina Machado, including her right-hand man Magalli Meda, have taken refuge in the Argentine embassy to escape arrest. To date, there are some 282 “political prisoners” in Venezuela, according to the NGO Foro Penal.
