Caracas Chronicles

This article was originally published in Spanish in Efecto Cocuyo, and is shared by Caracas Chronicles thanks to the media partnership #VenezuelaVota and #LaHoraDeVenezuela. 

On August 25, at 3:30 in the morning, a group of people imprisoned in the state of Lara were transferred to the Tocuyito Penal Center, located in Carabobo. The detainees, all in the context of the post-election protests, were awakened in the middle of the night with the news that the move would take place.

However, their relatives knew nothing about the transfer. Some, who were keeping vigil outside the “Pata ‘e palo” detention center in Barquisimeto, went behind the vehicles where the detainees were being taken and were able to find out that the destination was Tocuyito.

Since that day, the relatives of about 12 detainees could not see their loved ones or verify their state of health. This was the case until last October 3 when a visit was allowed. According to what security officials from the Tocuyito prison told the relatives, this would be the only time they would be able to see the detainees. 

“Formally, authorities never told us anything. We found out about the transfer from those people who followed them,” said Maydelen Heredia, aunt of Rayder Jiménez, a 30-year-old man who was arrested on Monday, July 29, in the Macuto area, Lara state. Heredia was part of the group of people who decided to protest on October 8, in front of the courts in Barquisimeto to demand justice in the case of their relatives and their release.

During the last visit, Maydelen also highlighted that she was not allowed to hug her family member. Still, she was able to notice he showed a significant weight loss. “We had no physical contact. Not a kiss, not a hug. Neither arrival nor farewell. We couldn’t make signals to him either. We also couldn’t tell him out loud that we loved them, because they told us they would be punished if we did,” said Heredia.

Bad food and green water

“When I talked with my nephew he gestured to me to indicate that the food was spoiled. They did tell other colleagues that the food has worms and is practically decomposed,” recalled Maydelen Heredia. 

Precisely, one of the most repeated complaints outside the Barquisimeto courts is that those deprived of liberty were not given a minimally decent treatment. While some of the detainees confessed that they had not been physically attacked since their arrival in Tocuyito, the treatment, and the conditions of space and food are inhumane. “They give them water twice a week and it comes out of green tanks in the back. It is polluted,” said Heredia. 

Regarding the performance of the public defense, Heredia affirms that on several occasions the relatives have traveled from Lara to Caracas to find out the name of the person in charge of defending their relatives and that, in more than two months, they still do not know who it is. 

“They always ignore us. They tell us that the defender is not here, that he is resting. They don’t tell us the name. We have also asked for private defense and they tell us that it is not allowed because they are accused of terrorism,” explained Heredia and added that all the legal presentations of the detainees have been online through collective audiences.