Those arrested after the elections are in Tocorón, Yare 3 and Tocuyito

Alfredo Romero, director of the NGO Foro Penal, reported early Saturday morning that the majority of men arrested after July 29, the day after the presidential elections in Venezuela, in which the The National Electoral Council (CNE) proclaimed Nicolás Maduro as president-elect and the opposition denounces fraud, have been transferred to the prisons of Tocorón, in the state of Aragua; Yare 3, in Miranda, and Tocuyito, a center called Hombre Nuevo Libertador in Carabobo.

The human rights defender explained, in the company of relatives of the political prisoners, that The detainees come from states such as Zulia, Amazonas and Táchira. Most of the relatives do not have the financial resources to travel from their cities or to find accommodation.

The drama is compounded by the fact that the authorities are refusing to allow relatives to communicate with the accused, most of whom were arrested after the presidential elections on 28 July in the context of the protests.

“We had to beg on the buses and ask for help,” said the mother of Yuriel Enrique Arrieta Barrio, 22 years old, who was arrested in Maracaibo and transferred to Yare 3.

Rosa Gaviria, Wilmer Gaviria’s mother, reported that the authorities informed her that her son was in Tocorón and that she has not been able to see him yet. Nelson Manuel Henriquez, Josman Gerber Bravo’s father, is in the same situation.

#6S To date, the majority of the new male political prisoners, detained since 07/29/2024, have been transferred to the prisons of Tocorón, Aragua State; Yare 3, Miranda State and Tocuyito (“New Liberator Man”), Carabobo State; these prisoners come from… pic.twitter.com/Pso1fPDrhj

— Criminal Forum (@ForoPenal) September 7, 2024

Sandra González, mother of the detained Oswald Estrada, said: “We don’t know exactly if he is alive or not. We don’t have anywhere to sleep, we came here to collect our tickets and we don’t know how long we will have to wait to hear from them.”

Marianella, mother of 21-year-old Elías Sayago, was also present at the meeting with Romero.

How many political prisoners are there in Venezuela?

According to the most recent report from Foro Penal on September 2, there are 1,793 political prisoners in Venezuela, of which 1,659 have been arrested since July 29.

The NGO reported that of this total, 1,568 are men and 225 are women. It also highlights that 59 are adolescents and a total of 157 are military personnel.

Balance of #PoliticalPrisoners in Venezuela on 09/02/2024 by 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗼 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗹:

We have registered and qualified the largest number of prisoners for political purposes known in #Venezuelaat least in the 21st century. We continue to receive and register detainees.

𝗧𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘀… pic.twitter.com/HHC9410U1b

— Criminal Forum (@ForoPenal) September 6, 2024