They arrested two members of María Corina Machado’s security team

• Vente Venezuela described the arrests of Milciades Ávila and Edwin Moya as a “kidnapping”

Vente Venezuela reported on Sunday, September 29, that state security officials detained two members of opposition leader María Corina Machado’s security team.

The Vente Venezuela party, led by Machado, described the arrests of Milciades Ávila and Edwin Moya as a “kidnapping.”

Until now, the whereabouts of Ávila and Moya are unknown.

Second arrest of Milciades Avila

This is the second arrest of Milciades Ávila, head of protection for María Corina Machado, in less than three months.

The previous arrest was carried out July 17, 2024when María Corina Machado was touring several states of Venezuela in the context of the electoral campaign for the presidential elections on July 28.

That same day, Machado had denounced an increase in “repression” when she warned of the cutting of “the brake hoses” of one of the two vehicles with which she and her team were traveling the country.

The opposition leader described this event as an “attack” and held President Nicolás Maduro responsible for any damage to her physical integrity and that of her collaborators, including Milciades Ávila.

Ávila was released after 36 hours of detention, on July 18, 2024, with precautionary measures.

Arrests of the Vente Venezuela team

On September 9, the Human Rights Committee of Vente Venezuela denounced the arrest of Ángel Carianama, in charge of security and surveillance of that political party.

Furthermore, since the beginning of the post-election demonstrations, the opposition leader has denounced the arrest of several members of her party.

One of the cases is that of María Corina Machado’s lawyer, Perkins Rochaon August 27.

Likewise, Vente Venezuela denounced on August 25 the arrest of the leader Luis Istúriz and his wife, Adriuzka Sánchez.

The political party added that at least six officials from the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) entered Istúriz’s home on the Guarenas-Guatire highway.

Another of the arrests of María Corina Machado’s team occurred on August 7 of this year, after María Oropeza, head of the Venezuelan Command in the Portuguesa state, was charged with terrorism.

Photo: Command with Venezuela

1,867 political prisoners

In relation to the most recent number of political prisoners, the non-governmental organization (NGO) Foro Penal recorded on September 26 that it amounted to 1.867 personas.

Penal Forum noted that 1,723 of the political prisoners were deprived of liberty between July 29 and September 23, 2024.

It was learned that the majority of those detained are adults and 68 are adolescents between 14 and 17 years of age. Regarding gender, 1,637 are men and 230 women. Likewise, 1,708 of the political prisoners are civilians, while 159 served as soldiers.

The NGO has reported since August of this year that the highest number of political prisoners has been reported in the country during the 21st century.

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