While Caracas resumed its rhythm after the days of silence and tension that followed the capture of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, Time passed slowly around Zone 7 of the Bolivarian National Police, in the Boleíta urbanization. A few meters from the detention center—known as El Inframundo or La Llorona— Relatives of political prisoners were still waiting this Tuesday for their loved ones to regain freedom.
Zone 7, a place in the shadows
The National found that around 15 people were sleeping in the middle of the street – on donated mattresses, enduring the cold and depending on the food and water that neighbors bring them—clinging to the promise that Jorge Rodríguez, president of the National Assembly, made almost a week ago: the release of “a significant number” of citizens detained for political reasons.
“This is a shadowy place. Nobody thought there were political prisoners,” expressed Nelcy Escorcia sitting on the sidewalk where she slept. She awaits the release of her husband Franklin Parra, who was detained by government agents in Maracaibo, Zulia state, on November 26 of last year and transferred to Caracas.
“We are tired because to date we have not obtained any positive news regarding our political prisoners, and we are already desperate. We don’t find what to do. We are peacefully waiting for that promise they made to unite families, but today we feel despair, we want to scream, we want to run away. Nobody gives us positive answers, nobody tells us anything,” he said.
In contrast to the situation in Zone 7, the access to El Helicoide, headquarters of the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service and the main torture center in Latin America, They remained closed and under the control of the Bolivarian National Police, with police trucks and buses crossed in the middle of the road. to prevent the passage of family members and journalists. A similar situation was recorded at the Dgcim headquarters in Boleíta.
Escorcia acknowledged that they fear that the releases will end and they will not be able to see their relatives released. “That is the fear we have, that is the fear, that is the anguish. Knowing that Zone 7 is the only place where there has not been a single release.”
He said that the relatives cannot give them food or clothing, nor do they know the conditions under which they are being held in that place, where On Saturday, January 10, political prisoner Edison José Torres Fernández died. 52 years old, accused of treason. In addition, they detained opponents there—among them teenagers—who They protested against the disputed presidential elections from July 28, 2024.
“We have intact faith in God, we pray every day, we know that he is the only one who has the power. But we As children, as parents, as wives, we have to raise our voices and act so that they listen to us, so that at least we see that someone was released from there and have hope that the others will be released,” Escorcia said.
“That is what we need and what we are asking for. That they touch their hearts, that they have true humanity. That they say ‘let’s unite the family’, that they want peace and reconciliation, but what are they doing? Look how they have us lying here. We compare ourselves to beggars and we are hard-working people who have left our jobs, our children abandoned, to spend the night here,” he added.
Since Thursday, after Jorge Rodríguez’s announcement, relatives of hundreds of political prisoners began to gather in the detention centers with the expectation that the releases would be carried out, but they have gained uncertainty and confusion due to the lack of information and the wait.
The interim government of Delcy Rodríguez stated on Monday that They had freed 116 people, a figure that contrasts dramatically with the data reported by human rights NGOs such as Foro Penal. Lawyer Alfredo Romero, president of the organization, indicated that until 10:00 am this Tuesday They had only verified 56 released political prisoners.
Evelis Cano, who traveled from Valles del Tuy, in the state of Miranda, because she has her son Jack Tantak detained in Zone 7, stated that He is no longer afraid and accused Jorge Rodríguez of lying to the people of Venezuela once again. She admitted feeling hurt and mocked because all the rights of political prisoners have been violated “just for thinking differently.”
“We need proof of life from all of them. We need someone from this detention center to come out and give us an answer. Today is the day of answers,” demanded the 49-year-old woman, who said that, if her family member is not released this Tuesday, she at least hopes that the authorities will allow those close to her to enter so she can hug them and check their physical and health conditions.
Those close to him demanded that, just as the authorities demanded that the United States prove Maduro’s life, they also be given an answer about his relatives.
“We want the human rights of Venezuelans to be truly respected. Today we want have the faith of life of our relatives because we do not have it. We can’t even see our relatives. We want to give them food and medicine. They must be distraught because we have heard them singing the National Anthem. We have heard them (saying) ‘freedom, freedom, freedom, we are innocent, let us go now,’ express.
Cano assured that his son has no political affiliation and that he is a businessman and father of a 7-year-old boy and a 15-year-old teenager, who are waiting for him to return home.
“I am committed to my grandchildren, to bringing joy back to my grandchildren. Mr. Jorge Rodríguez, fulfill what you promised, because you ask for proof of life of President Nicolás Maduro Moros and ask that his human rights be respected. “I am Venezuelan and the human rights of our political prisoners are not being respected here in Venezuela,” he stated.
“We were afraid, but we believe in a powerful God and we have faith that this has to be solved no matter what. All political prisoners must be released now. “One more day cannot pass and these people continue to be unjustly detained here, deprived of their liberty, without seeing their families, without being at home with their children, without bringing food to their families, because they are fighting parents who work to provide daily support for their home,” said Cano.
The Venezuelan Prisons Observatory denounced, after the death of Edison Torres, that Zone 7 operates in extreme conditions of overcrowding, unsanitary conditions and abandonment, that put the lives of those imprisoned there at permanent risk.
This center, which in practice functions as a prison even though it should legally be a place of temporary detention, keeps people deprived of liberty for more than 48 hours without minimum guarantees, in spaces marked by lack of medical care, corruption and poor hygiene conditions.
The organization indicated that with the death of Torres There are already 26 people dead since 2015 in detention centers of the Venezuelan regime, 8 of them since repression intensified after the presidential fraud.
“The lack of transparency is absolute, There are no official lists, there are no spokespersons to provide certainty and desperation grows. due to the fear that more detainees will lose their lives in unsanitary and abandoned conditions. We remember that the Venezuelan State is guarantor of the physical integrity of those in its custody,” he noted.
For these reasons, the observatory reiterated that these PNB cells in Boleíta must be closed definitively, and demanded an immediate, exhaustive and impartial investigation into Torres’ death, as well as the publication of the list of people who could be released.
The mother of another political prisoner, who preferred to testify anonymously after receiving threats, said that she has a brain tumor, which has prevented her from spending the night every day.
“We are going to wait as long as we can because we are tired of this. Just as they ask for proof of life from Maduro, we want to ask for proof of life from our children who are in there. That is what we want, for them to tell us: ‘Yes, they are here for this and for this’. That is what we want to know, not that they continue to hide them from us because we have already endured too much. This is playing with people’s feelings. Because they have fathers, mothers and children,” he said.
The woman expressed concern because her 31-year-old son has a delicate health situation that could worsen. He has been detained since November of last year. “This government has made our lives miserable and has separated all families completely. The only thing I have is my son, who has been there for me and for everything. “My livelihood is my son.”
