The former presidential candidate and the former deputy were taken by Sebin to Luis Roche Avenue in Altamira, where they were handed over to their families. Both were held in the Helicoide
During the night of Thursday, January 8, former presidential candidate Enrique Márquez finally left Helicoide, where he was imprisoned without trial for a year. The former parliamentarian was also taken in a Sebin patrol to the Altamira urbanization, in Chacao, where he was handed over to his relatives. There he was reunited with his wife, friends and was able to connect on video calls with other family members.
With him, the political leader of Convergencia, Biagio Pilieri, was also released. The journalist had been in prison for a year and four months since he was imprisoned after the 2024 presidential elections.
A video by journalist Vladimir Villegas showed the first images of both released prisoners, the first to have benefited from the release process announced earlier in the day by Jorge Rodríguez.
Provea’s enforceability coordinator, Marino Alvarado, described it as “regrettable” that the authorities have chosen to release these two people “practically clandestinely.” He described the matter as a mockery of the media but also of the relatives gathered near the Helicoide waiting for information about their prisoners. “It seems that the interest is that the prisoners cannot speak, express themselves, share their feelings.”
In parallel, and on the outskirts of Helicoide, the Committee of Mothers in Defense of Truth reported that “as of 9:30 pm today, 01/08/26, the releases of our loved ones have not been made effective, nor have we identified signs that allow us to think that progress is being made in this regard.”
They claimed that “based on the information we have, we estimate that there are still a little more than 200 people unjustly detained in the context of the post-election mobilizations. These people are held in the Tocorón penitentiary center, in Tocuyito, in “Las Crisálidas” and in police and GNB commandos.
The members of the organization urged the authorities “to guarantee that our loved ones are included in the release process announced by the president of the National Assembly. Fathers and mothers whose sons and daughters are waiting at home. Workers, professionals in different branches, artists, athletes, students who are the present and the future of our country.
Also read: Read here who are the political prisoners released after Jorge Rodríguez’s announcement
*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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