In the Grip of the Dictatorship
Published in SonntagsBlick, November 2024
Caracas, Venezuela – Since the disputed elections in July 2024, Nicolás Maduro’s regime has tightened its grip with brutal force. More than 2,500 people have been arbitrarily arrested – among them over 100 minors. The wave of repression is sweeping across the country, silencing dissent and punishing even the innocent. One of them is 26-year-old José Gregorio Pérez Maita. He wasn’t protesting when they took him – he was simply walking down the street. That was July 29. He’s been behind bars ever since, still waiting for a hearing that never comes. “I want the world to know the truth about Venezuela – and what they’ve done to my brother,” says Diego, who stands outside the courthouse week after week with a photo of José in his hands. Others have been locked away for far longer. Josnars Baduel has spent over four years inside El Helicoide, the regime’s most feared prison – a place known for torture and indefinite detention. His sister Andreina continues to speak out, even as the government targets her family. Their father, Raúl Baduel – once a trusted ally of Hugo Chávez – was imprisoned for more than a decade and died in custody in 2021 after being denied medical care. “The repression has become systematic,” warns Lisette González of the human rights group Provea. “No one is safe anymore – not even children.” The recent arrest of opposition mayor Rafael Ramírez in Maracaibo sends a chilling message: even elected officials are now fair game. A new UN report paints a bleak picture – calling Venezuela’s human rights crisis one of the worst in the world today.
