Ernesto Paraqueima remains under house arrest in Caracas, with an electronic shackle and permanent custody. His son reports that family visits were not allowed throughout last year and warns that the former mayor is in a delicate state of health, without adequate access to medical care.
1,028 days have passed since Ernesto Paraqueima was detained and transferred from El Tigre, Anzoátegui state, to Caracas. Since then, his son, Sandino Paraqueima, assures that the family has been asking for justice.
«We have been asking for justice for almost three years. There are 1,028 days. “My dad is one of the hundreds of victims there are,” he says.
On May 4, 2023, Ernesto Paraqueima was arrested for allegedly having committed four crimes: “Promotion of hatred, arbitrary act, aggravating Lopnna and obstruction of freedom of commerce.” He Public Ministry said that three of those accusations They were related to comments made by the official criticizing a mural painted by children on the autism spectrum.
At that time, Paraqueima was mayor of the Simón Rodríguez de Anzoátegui municipality.
According to his son Sandino Paraqueima, his father was taken hooded by small plane from his home to the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (Sebin) in El Helicoide. 48 hours later, Ernesto Paraqueima was placed under house arrest.
Currently, Ernesto Paraqueima remains in a home located in La Castellana, in Caracas, in the custody of four officials and with an electronic shackle for almost a year. «It is in a very deteriorated house. His health condition is serious and he is not allowed access to medical care. Food is the only thing that can help him,” details his son.
Sandino Paraqueima reports that last year he was not able to see his father even once, no one in the family was able to visit him. «Now they allow us to see it. Last year I couldn’t,” he explains. In addition, he says that his father must comply with strict controls and that at certain times of the day they must send photographs of him.
On the other hand, Sandino Paraqueima denounces that two of his father’s brothers have an arrest warrant and are being held. He himself, he claims, was threatened and persecuted. He adds that Ernesto Paraqueima “had always had some conflict with some heads of the government,” but he does not specify who those people would be.
“If they talk about reconciliation, we must have reconciliation,” Sandino Paraqueima urges the authorities. He states that they are awaiting “responses from the courts and carrying out the corresponding procedures in accordance with what the Amnesty Law says” to request his freedom.
Sandino Paraqueima not only asks for the freedom of his father, but also that of all political prisoners: “They will have to swallow hard because of the hatred they have for us. “We also have to do it to build a democratic country,” says the former mayor’s son.
*Journalism in Venezuela is carried out in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments in place to punish the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against the blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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