Maria Corina Machado with opposition leader Perkins Rocha, kidnapped by the Venezuelan regime. Photo: @MariaCorinaYA
María Corina Machado denounced that Perkins Rocha, her personal lawyer and representative of the Comando con Venezuela movement, was kidnapped by agents of the Nicolás Maduro regime and, to this day, his whereabouts remain unknown.
This was announced by Machado through his X account in which he assured that The kidnappings and political persecution of those who oppose Maduro do not stop.
“The Nicolás Maduro regime has kidnapped my friend and comrade in arms, Perkins Rocha who is our personal lawyer, our Legal Coordinator and representative of the Command with Venezuela before the National Electoral Commission (CNE)”he denounced.
The Nicolás Maduro regime has kidnapped my friend and comrade in arms, Perkins Rocha (@PerkinsRocha).
Perkins is our personal attorney, our Legal Coordinator and our representative. @ConVzlaComando before the CNE.
A just, brave, intelligent and generous man. A… pic.twitter.com/V1DTpUEodt— Maria Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) August 27, 2024
Rocha is one of the most visible leaders of the Venezuelan opposition and, since the last elections, there has been no end to complaints against the alleged irregularities that occurred in the electoral contest and the apparent rigging of the CNE in the same process, accusations that are quite uncomfortable for President Maduro.
“A just, brave, intelligent and generous man. An exemplary Venezuelan.” They want to bend us, to distract us and to terrify us. We continue forward, for Perkins, for all the prisoners and persecuted, and for all of Venezuela. We will be free,” concluded Machado.
Rocha’s last interview
On August 25th Rocha was invited to the program Opening Doors by journalist Margarita Oropeza. In this interview he assured that he is punished and Anyone who disagrees with Nicolás Maduro is persecuted, words that seemed like a premonition of what would happen to him.
“My right to say ‘no’ is a right that cannot be taken away from me” And right now people are being punished and persecuted for disagreeing with Mr. Nicolás Maduro and his governing party,” he said, while calling on the regime to sit down in the next five months to dialogue and make agreements on governability.
«But my right to say NO is a right that cannot be taken away from me and right now I am being punished and persecuted for disagreeing with Mr. Nicolás Maduro and his ruling party. This seems to me to be something to reflect on… Let us take advantage of these 5 months to understand each other» @PerkinsRocha pic.twitter.com/8hlN3fcpY3
— Margarita Oropeza (@moropeza_vv) August 25, 2024
However, given the Venezuelan government’s denial, he said that the only thing the Venezuelan people have “is the word and the verb” since institutionality has been lost.
“In Venezuela, unfortunately, institutions have been lost. Justice and powers have been weakened, and it is necessary to re-create a new link between citizens and public power so that there is trust and credibility in the actions of public power,” he concluded. Rocha.
Disproportionate increase in political arrests
According to the report of the NGO Venezuelan Penal Forum, As of July 22, 2024, there were 305 political detainees in that country’s prisons.
However, From July 22 to August 22, when the protests against the elected regime began, at least 1,674 people have been arrested for political reasons, which represents an increase of 449 percent.
Balance of #PoliticalPrisoners in Venezuela on 08/23/2024 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 prisoners… pic.twitter.com/lLe0234l14
— Criminal Forum (@ForoPenal) August 23, 2024
These data, although scandalous, are nothing new for the Nicolás Maduro regime.According to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) World Report, more than 15,800 arrests had been made from 2014 to 2023. of people whose only crime was to demonstrate against what they consider a failed state.
2024-08-28 04:02:02
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