local newspaper revealed On Saturday, socialist Venezuela announced it was feeding rotten food and contaminated water to political prisoners arrested after this summer's sham elections, putting their health at great risk.
El Calabobeno It detailed testimonies from some of the families of the more than 500 detainees currently held at Tokuito Prison. One of these prisons was “attacked” It's empty by the socialist regime in late 2023, and one of the two locations will bere-education campA statement issued by dictator Nicolas Maduro in August aimed at the opposition.
His family explained that they had only been able to see their relatives once since August 26, when he was transferred to Tocuito Prison. El Calabobeño said the detainees were malnourished because the food they were being served was of poor quality: “Most of it had insects, some had hair on it, and almost all of it was rotten.” He explained that he was in a mentally fragile situation.
According to the testimony given to El CalabobenoThe detainees face up to 30 years in prison on “terrorism” charges as punishment for protests after the fake presidential election on July 28, but Maduro and Venezuelan authorities have said they are all loyal to the dictator. Yes, the president claims he “won” despite the evidence. Presentations from the Venezuelan opposition suggest he lost to Edmundo González, a 75-year-old diplomat. ran away I will be going to Spain in September.
El Calabobeno According to testimony, some of the detainees were the breadwinners of their respective families and were not participating in the protests, but were detained simply for “riding motorcycles or being on the street” during the protests. said that it was done. Reportedly, not a single detainee took a guilty plea deal in exchange for “27 years in prison with no benefits.”
The grandmother of one of the detainees told the newspaper that she was able to meet her grandson on September 1st. After taking a photo and providing personal information, the grandmother explained, she was searched and asked to wait in a hallway, escorted by a hooded security guard. before the visit.
The grandmother was forbidden from touching the detainees and was ordered to put her hands on their legs under the table and speak face-to-face with relatives, “just like them, without moving them.”
“Imagine, after all this time, you still can't hug your grandchild,” said the grandmother, who said she was told that any violation would result in sanctions against the detainee and suspension of visitation rights. added.
“He started crying and I told him I asked him not to cry so I could talk to him,” she continued, noting that her grandson had said “I won't eat it because it's bug food.” . It's ground-up skin with bugs in it, which raises blood pressure. ”
A grandmother claimed that her grandson, who suffers from a stomach-related illness, was having stomach pains because he drank suspicious water from a prison tank.
“They didn't give him any medicine, they didn't ask me for any medicine. Even if I went to that door and sent them omeprazole, they wouldn't give it to me because the doctor inside would have to order it. won’t give it to him,” she said.
Another detainee's mother accused her of feeding her son. arepas He insisted that the other young man was suffering from fainting and convulsions due to malnutrition, and demanded that he be fed cheese infested with bugs and that he be allowed to see and feed his son. The mother noted that her son's hearing is scheduled for Oct. 18, but she does not know if he will be forced to plead guilty.
The wife of another detainee accused her husband of finding cockroach legs in his food.
“Some days I only feed them once. One day it was so bad that I had to throw it away without eating it. The water was so dirty it made me feel sick,” she said. Ta.
Relatives of the detainees also accused Tokuito of men suffering from various conditions, including some with AIDS, some with colostomies, and some with heart problems. All of them blamed their ingestion of small amounts of rotten food for malnutrition. receive. Despite the presence of medical personnel in prisons, detainees reportedly did not always have access to medical care.
Unable to visit, detainees' families camp outside the prison and use binoculars to observe detainees from a distance. Relatives say local police stole the binoculars, claiming they were “spy items.”
Relatives charged that detainees would be punished if they were caught waving back at their families. According to El CalabobenoThe next court hearing for the detainees is scheduled for October 16th to 18th, but the detainees do not even know the name of the judge in charge of their case.
on friday, El Calabobeno condemned Some detainees are said to be forced through threats and physical abuse to declare their guilt by signing and putting their fingerprints on a piece of paper. According to a report published by the newspaper in early October, the Maduro government also minor Currently on trial on charges of terrorism. Minors are subject to torture and are denied the right to legitimate defense.
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan writer who chronicles life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
