Caracas Chronicles

Name: María Andreina Oropeza
Year of birth: 1994
Date of detention: August 6
Area: Guanare, Portuguesa
Profession: Lawyer, Portuguesa’s Vente Venezuela and Comando Con Vzla coordinator

María Oropeza never talked directly about the possibility of being detained, but she and her family knew it could happen. Since July 28, her texts with her sister ceased to be a normal conversation and became more like safety reports: María letting her know where she was going to be that day, if she was going to be without a phone signal, if she was going to be hard to reach. Her sister is clear: they knew what they were facing, but they were trying to maintain a life as normal as possible, mainly to avoid her mom getting nervous.

Oropeza’s detention quickly made headlines: she made a live broadcast on social media of DGCIM (military counterintelligence) agents breaking her door and entering her home to take her without explanations or a search warrant. 

A few days later, the International Court of Human Rights granted her precautionary measures, considering that she is “in a serious and urgent situation of risk of irreparable damage to her rights.”

After the detention, her mother dedicated all her time to find out how and where her daughter was. They knew nothing for ten days. She searched for her in every police command in Guanare and Acarigua before traveling to Caracas. There, she was given more information: María is being kept at El Helicoide. DGCIM published a video that showed her captured, as if she was a dangerous terrorist.

For her sister, this is a “very painful” situation. María is not allowed to speak with any of her relatives. “It’s very difficult to think about how she’s doing, what they will be doing to her.” She was charged with terrorism and incitement to hatred, like hundreds of people detained since the elections. Her family still does not know what evidence they’re using against her in the legal process, which is taking place in civil court and under the defense of public councilor number 94, a lawyer imposed by the State. María was denied the right to counsel that she trusts. 

Oropeza’s detention quickly made headlines: she made a live broadcast on social media of DGCIM (military counterintelligence) agents breaking her door and entering her home to take her without explanations or a search warrant. 

Her sister says that Maria likes sports, that she’s a Real Madrid and Leones del Caracas fan, and that she’s always listening to Guns N’ Roses. She loves to dance, sing and write poetry; but, above all, she says that Maria is innocent. “Her only crime is fighting for Venezuela,” she says. “We, as a family, are going to continue fighting to see her and for her freedom. We demand freedom for María Oropeza and for all political prisoners in Venezuela.”