Caracas Chronicles

Name: Edward Ocariz
Year of birth: 1971
Date of detention: August 2, 2024
Area of residence: Coche, Caracas
Profession: human rights activist, community leader, member of opposition party Primero Justicia

“If I had to describe Edward with one word, I would say he’s a humanitarian. Here in Coche there’s not one neighbor who has had an emergency and has not gotten help from him,”says a relative of Edward Ocariz on the phone. “Edward is trained as a paramedic, he can give you a shot, measure your blood pressure, and he was always doing those things to people in the community. He was always vigilant about people’s human rights, because he was also an activist. He was many things, but above all a good neighbor, friend and relative. A man who served his community.”

Ocariz was detained at his home in Coche on August 2nd, while he was cooking. “About eight PNB (national police) officers came, saying they had an order to raid the house, which they didn’t show. They didn’t even search the house, just took him to El Helicoide (the political police main reclusion site).” Another relative says that they were able to bring him some food that very day: “He is known by the officers at El Helicoide because he has been bringing food to political prisoners for years.” 

She remembers what Ocariz said to her days before the election: they might come for me. “He didn’t want to escape because he feared what they could do to his family if they didn’t find him, so he stayed here.”

From El Helicoide, Ocariz was moved to a (military intelligence agency) DGCIM site at Andrés Bello avenue, downtown Caracas, and later to the Zona 7 temporary prison, of PNB, in Boleíta, also in Caracas. In this police facility, the family was able to confirm he was getting the food, clothes and self care products they brought for him. “He spent five days with the same filthy clothes and the officers didn’t say anything. As soon as we knew he was at El Helicoide, we could follow up from there. But the only transfer they notified was the last one, to Tocuyito.”

“Edward has the right to have an opinion, to get involved in politics, and to vote,” said one of his relatives. 

On August 9, Ocariz was transferred to the Tocuyito prison, officially called Centro Hombre Nuevo, a maximum security jail in Carabobo state, severely overcrowded. “We have to wait two weeks to see him.” Ocariz was charged for blocking a public road, terrorism and inciting hate. The family is not yet clear if there’s a sentence, or how many years of prison he would be facing, or which evidence sustains the case against him, or who defended him. Nothing.