Caracas Chronicles

By the afternoon of January 8th, more than 18 activists, political leaders, and even foreign nationals have reportedly been illegally arrested or forcefully disappeared across the country, casting a grim shadow over an already tense political climate. Activists and civil society leaders warn that the regime’s actions are designed not only to crush opposition but also to send a message of intimidation to any who dare challenge Maduro’s grip on power. Additionally, the government reports the detention of 134 foreign citizens for their alleged involvement in destabilizing actions and alleged ties to the opposition. 

Following the contested presidential election on July 28, Nicolás Maduro’s government has unleashed a campaign of repression marked by home raids, forced abductions, and over 2,400 detentions, according to Foro Penal. Coupled with widespread militarization and the mobilization of pro-government collectives, these actions have provoked international outrage and heightened fears over Venezuela’s worsening human rights crisis and the erosion of its government institutions.

Since January 3, the Venezuelan government has deployed over 1,200 military personnel nationwide, according to official propaganda, to “ensure peace” during Maduro’s inauguration. This mobilization includes checkpoints operated by the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM), armored vehicles, and security inspections in urban centers.

Additionally, the ruling PSUV party says it has activated armed urban groups  (AKA colectivos) in Caracas and Miranda. These government-aligned collectives are tasked with “defensive operations” against perceived opposition threats, further escalating tensions in the capital. Untrained civilians were given Kalashnikov rifles outside the presidential residency on January 7 to “defend peace”.

Caracas Chronicles cannot confirm the extent of the deployment of security forces on the ground at the moment, but the surge in detentions and increasing aggressiveness from figures like Diosdado Cabello and the propaganda apparatus point to a systemic move to infuse terror before January 10th. María Corina Machado called for nationwide and worldwide demonstrations starting January 9th.

The price of rejecting Maduro’s usurpation

In the last 24 hours alone, 12 individuals across five states—Caracas, Trujillo, Bolívar, Falcón, and Lara—have been arbitrarily detained or abducted by the regime’s forces. The arrests appear to target opposition leaders, activists, and ordinary citizens who don’t recognize the results of the July 28th presidential elections presented by the National Electoral Council, further exposing the lengths to which the government will go to silence dissent before the inauguration. 

In Caracas, Carlos Correa, executive director of the NGO Espacio Público, was forcibly taken near Bolívar Avenue on January 7. Eyewitnesses described a chilling scene as five masked individuals intercepted Correa and forced him into an unmarked SUV near the Palace of Justice. His disappearance has sparked outrage among human rights organizations, which demand immediate answers about his whereabouts. 

Former presidential candidate Enrique Márquez was also taken in Caracas on January 7. Márquez’s arrest has been labeled a “kidnapping” by the opposition party Voluntad Popular, which condemned the government’s escalating “wave of disappearances” targeting prominent dissidents. 

In another part of the capital, Rafael Tudares Bracho, the son-in-law of President-Elect Edmundo González Urrutia, was intercepted while taking his children to school. Masked men seized him in broad daylight, leaving his children in the car and his distraught family with no knowledge of his fate.

The residence of María Corina Machado’s 84-year-old mother in Caracas has been surrounded by police forces and power has been cut off from the area, in another attempt to intimidate dissidents through their loved ones.

In Ciudad Bolívar, councilman Jeremy Santamaría was detained by agents of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) after attending a municipal session. 

Trujillo has seen its share of repression as well, with five individuals affiliated with the opposition party Vente Venezuela detained on January 6. Activists Marianela Ojeda, Francisco Graterol, Roberto Rea, Alejandro Briceño, and merchant Darío Durán were reportedly taken from their homes in coordinated raids by state security forces. Witnesses recount doors being smashed open and individuals dragged away without warrants or explanations. Their families remain in anguish as the detainees’ locations are yet to be disclosed.

In Barquisimeto, teacher and independent community leader Jesús Sira was detained, also on January 7. Known for training electoral witnesses, Sira’s arrest has been met with condemnation from human rights defenders who see it as an attack on grassroots democracy.

The crackdown extended to Punto Fijo in Falcón, where three prominent opposition figures were detained: Francisco Cariello of Alianza Bravo Pueblo, Robert Santos of Un Nuevo Tiempo, and Rafael Gpitia of Vente Venezuela. Like the other detentions, their families and supporters have been left in the dark about their locations or conditions.

With little information about the context of their detention, former Governor of Táchira César Pérez Vivas reported through social media the imprisonment of Yorman González, Yuli Rosales, Engelbert Abreu and Gerardo Camacho in Trujillo, Motatán Municipality, where Vente Venezuela collaborator Enger Jordán had been previously detained on January 4.

Maduro targets foreign nationals in mass detentions

At least 134 foreign nationals, labeled as “mercenaries” by Venezuelan authorities, have been detained for their alleged involvement in “destabilizing actions,” according to a statement by Cabello, the Interior Minister, during a press conference on Monday and a press conference by Maduro on Tuesday, January 7. 

Cabello detailed that the detainees include individuals from Colombia, the United States, Peru, Spain, Italy, Uruguay, Ukraine, Switzerland, the Czech Republic, Lebanon, Albania, the Netherlands, Israel, Germany, Argentina, Guyana, and Yemen. He also claimed that weapons were seized during the arrests but did not elaborate on the supposed actions or operations in which the detainees were allegedly involved.

The minister further asserted, without providing evidence, that some of the detained “mercenary” groups have ties to opposition leaders.

UN Secretary General, António Guterres, expressed “deep concern” over the “further arbitrary detention and persecution” against members of the opposition, human rights defenders and their families in Venezuela in the past 48 hours.