Caracas (EFE).- Venezuelan Activists and family members asked the United States chargé d’affaires in Caracas, Laura Dogu, on Wednesday to prioritize the release of political prisoners over oil agreements.
«If you want to rebuild the country, start by talking about reconciliation and helping us recover economically. First, address human lives. Start with all those prisoners who are behind bars for thinking differently,» said Francis Quiñones, the mother of Second Sergeant Jonathan Franco Quiñones, during a protest in front of the United Nations headquarters in Caracas.
Quiñones said the US diplomat came to Venezuela to «do business» with oil, but asked her to «first focus on lives» and the situation of political detainees who continue to be tortured in prisons.
She urged Dogu to visit the country’s prisons to verify the situation of political prisoners.
«The oil will not run out; it can be recovered. Life does end,» she insisted.
Since arriving in Venezuela on Jan. 31, Dogu has maintained that the government of US President Donald Trump aims to promote Venezuelan economic recovery for the benefit of both countries.
Venezuela and the US resumed hydrocarbon trade after the arrest of former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro (2013-2026).
Dozens of activists and family members of political prisoners demanded full freedom and warned about possible exclusions from the amnesty bill, which seeks to free all political prisoners.
The second parliamentary discussion of the bill was postponed this week due to disagreements among deputies regarding the wording of some articles.
Andreína Baduel, the sister of political prisoner Josnars Baduel and a member of the Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CLIPP), told EFE that they are seeking international support to establish a «humanitarian coalition in defense of human rights» and save the lives of detainees, after 41 days of vigils and overnight stays by family members outside the prisons.
«Family members are desperate, and they have been calling not only the US Embassy but also governments around the world,» she stressed.
They are seeking this support because the amnesty bill being discussed in Parliament is «exclusive,» the victims have not been heard during its drafting process, and the horror in the country’s detention centers persists as institutions ignore family members’ complaints.
As of Monday, the NGO Foro Penal, which leads the legal defense of political prisoners, stated that there are still over 600 of these detainees in the country after verifying the release of 444 prisoners since Jan. 8, when the interim government announced a liberation process.
On Wednesday, a group of family members completed a four-day hunger strike outside Zona 7, a detention center in Caracas, to demand the release of all detainees. EFE
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