A suicide attempt inside a cell at the El Rodeo I prison marked the last days of captivity of Yaacob Eliahu Harary, the Argentine-Israeli citizen who was detained in Venezuela for more than a year and who was released this week by the chavista government. The episode occurred when his partner and cellmate, Douglas Javier Ochoa, cut his neck and lost a large amount of blood.
Harary, 72 years old, said that he woke up after hearing a strange noise and screamed for help so that the guards could intervene. Ochoa was rushed to a medical center, where he received surgery and transfusions that managed to save his life, reported the Argentine newspaper. Clarion.
The incident occurred in the same prison where he remains. Argentine gendarme Nahuel Agustín Gallo arrested and just three days before the release of Harary, who is already in Tel Aviv.
Emma, Harary’s stepdaughter, offered her testimony to Clarion after having telephone conversations with his stepfather on Monday and Tuesday. According to what he said, the former detainee was deeply affected by what he had experienced and was especially concerned about his partner’s situation.
“I just came out of hell,” he told her on the first call. In those conversations he described systematic mistreatment, humiliation – particularly against Venezuelan prisoners – and the supply of psychiatric medications without a medical prescription.
During the 15 months that he remained incommunicado, Harary was not informed of his partner’s death. He also had no contact with his family until the time of his release. His story also included a direct meeting with the Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace, Diosdado Cabello.
Cabello ordered his transfer from El Rodeo I to the headquarters of the Jewish community in Caracas, as confirmed by the family.
An architect by profession, Harary had a personal project linked to food production. “He loves growing food and that kind of stuff with animals,” Emma explained.
Born in San Juan, he lived in different countries, including Panama, Israel and Ecuador. In 2017 he met Gloria, a Venezuelan citizen, in Panama with whom he began a relationship. Later they moved to Ecuador along with her children.
In 2023, Harary traveled to Israel and Gloria followed him some time later. In 2024, she returned to Ecuador for family reasons and Harary decided to move to Panama to recover machinery with which he planned to install a cheese factory in Venezuela.
It was in that context that he partnered with Douglas Javier Ochoa.
“For a year and a half they planned what they were going to do with the cheese factory. Yaacob bought plots of land and even animals,” said his stepdaughter.
Due to his Israeli citizenship and the breakdown of diplomatic relations between Venezuela and Israel, Harary chose to enter the country by land from Colombia. On September 9, 2024, he was arrested along with Ochoa by agents of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (Dgcim).
According to their story, both were initially transferred to El Helicoide and then to El Rodeo I, after passing through Dgcim facilities. The Venezuelan government accused him of conspiring “to destroy the republican political form of the State.”
Detention conditions
Emma described the lockdown as especially harsh.
“He told me that they were inhumane, they treated him too badly. But there is no comparison with how they treat Venezuelan prisoners,” he said.
And he added: “He even told me that with Javier, who was locked in the same cell, the difference in mistreatment was too notable.”
Harary suffers from health problems and had undergone several surgeries before his arrest.
“I don’t know if they have given him all the remedies because Yaacob is a person with quite delicate health,” Emma stated.
According to their testimony, the guards distributed psychiatric drugs without a medical diagnosis.
“He said that many times they were given pills that were bad for them. And that they have several foreign political prisoners on psychiatric medication. They also give them Losartan and this type of medication,” he explained.
The family believes that the excessive supply of these medications altered the mental state of several detainees. Harary even shared his sleeping pills with Ochoa.
During his imprisonment, Harary was also forced to listen to radio programs by Diosdado Cabello weekly, as well as broadcasts with content from Nicolás Maduro and broadcasts of Without tricks or tricks.
In El Rodeo I, Harary saw the Argentine gendarme Nahuel Gallo in good physical condition and learned that he is allowed to do sports activity once a week.
Release and transfer
Harary was released along with 33 other political prisoners in the early hours of Monday. According to his family, Cabello himself intervened directly in the procedure.
“Diosdado (Cabello) himself took him out of prison and handed him over to the Jewish community of Venezuela,” Emma stated. And he added: “Even with the nerve to shake his hand, nothing has happened here.”
After his departure, Harary received a photograph of his newborn granddaughter, the daughter of his biological daughter in Israel, but he was only able to keep it for two minutes.
This Wednesday he learned of Gloria’s death, which occurred six months ago due to an aneurysm. The government never informed him of the death.
Arrival in Israel
Harary arrived in Tel Aviv after a stopover in Rome and was received by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahuwho thanked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mossad, and the governments of the United States, Germany, Austria and Italy.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry reported that Harary was detained “in extremely harsh conditions, without due legal process or access to medical treatment, along with local and foreign prisoners.”
In the absence of diplomatic relations with Venezuela, Israel explained that its Foreign Ministry, through the Embassy in Colombia, worked “with embassies and foreign diplomatic agents in several countries to facilitate visits to the prison, maintain contact with Harary and provide assistance during his imprisonment.”
He added: “Among other measures, photographs of his grandson were sent to him through these diplomatic channels to preserve the human connection and provide him with moral support.”
With information from Clarín.
