Critics believe ‘drip drip’ of releases after Maduro’s dramatic seizure an attempt by regime to ‘keep the US satisfied’
I
n the days after Nicolás Maduro was accused of stealing Venezuela’s 2024 election, the relatives of hundreds of protesters captured during the ensuing clampdown flocked to the Zone 7 police detention centre in search of incarcerated loved ones.
Now, after the tables turned dramatically and Maduro finds himself locked up in the US, the families have returned to demand the immediate release of every last one of their country’s political prisoners.
“I’m staying right here … we aren’t going anywhere without our relatives,” said Mileidy Mendoza, 30, one of 20 women – some in their 70s – who have spent the last fortnight camped outside the jail in east Caracas waiting for their relatives to emerge.
