González’s emotional message for the detained teenagers

Edmundo González Urrutia expressed his solidarity this Thursday with the mothers and fathers of the teenagers detained after the elections presidential elections on July 28including the seven put on trial for terrorism on Wednesday in Carabobo.

“Tortured boys and girls, refusing to bow down, having conviction, wanting a future, wanting to work to recover democracy, facing repression with courage is not a crime,” González wrote in a publication in x.

The presidential candidate added that “a crime is to torture, kidnap, persecute, that is a crime and the world knows it.”

“My solidarity hug goes out to all the mothers and fathers who today suffer from the kidnapping of their children. We must support them in this transition. And I tell you, justice is going to come,” he said.

The Carabobeño published on Wednesday that seven minors, between 15 and 17 years old, were put on trial in a preliminary telematic hearing led by Judge Keidimar Ramos Castillo, head of Court 2 with jurisdiction over terrorism.

The teenagers face charges of terrorism, incitement to hatred, obstruction of public roads and resistance to authority during the protests that emerged in the country following the election results.

According to family members, the detained young people recorded a video in which they admitted that they had been paid $30 to go out on the streets to protest. They reported that they did it after several days of receiving blows, so many that some lost their teeth and another has burned his nipples, because they turned on electricity.

A reason to intensify the fight

Opposition leader María Corina Machado also reacted and expressed solidarity with the mothers of the detainees.

“These seven boys are our children; our reason for fighting. What they have done to them, with the aim of terrorizing all the young people and their parents, is the greatest reason we have as a society to intensify our fight,” Machado expressed in x.

More than a hundred teenagers were arrested in Venezuela after protests against the disputed election results that gave victory to President Nicolás Maduro. In total, 67 minors are still deprived of liberty, according to the Penal Forum.