The highest number of political prisoners of the century is being experienced

In Venezuela there are 1,834 people detained for political reasons, according to data released this Wednesday by the non-governmental organization Foro Penal, a figure that represents, according to its members, “the largest number” of this type of incarcerated that has registered the country in the 21st century.

Through X, the organization detailed that of the total number of inmates, 1,608 are men and 226 are women, among whom there are 1,774 adults and 60 adolescents.

The NGO said that 1,692 of the total arrests were made after the presidential elections on July 28, when a crisis broke out due to the accusation of “fraud” by the largest opposition coalition, the Democratic Unitary Platform (PUD), which claims that its standard-bearer, Edmundo González Urrutia, is the president-elect, contrary to the official result, which gave re-election to President Nicolás Maduro.

The post-election crisis sparked protests that left, according to the Executive, 25 dead and more than 2,400 arrested, a figure that considerably exceeds that of Foro Penal.

The NGO recently explained to Efe that its figures are different from those announced by the authorities because the organization only counts arrests that are classified as “arbitrary,” when – it said – “there is no evidence of guilt” on the part of the person arrested.

The government blames the protesters – whom it links to the PUD – for generating “violence” and “vandalism” in various public places, which entails punishable crimes, while the anti-Chavez bloc accuses state security agents of “repression” in the protests.

Since 2014, the Penal Forum has recorded 17,609 “political arrests” as well as more than 9,000 people who remain “arbitrarily” subjected to “restrictive measures on their freedom”.