"Venezuela has said it has carried out its largest release of political prisoners this year, claiming to have freed 99 people detained for taking part in protests after the 2024 election, widely believed to have been stolen by the dictator Nicolas Maduro, as it comes under increasing military pressure from the US. Civil society organisations have treated the news with caution and stressed that the releases were insufficient, noting that at least 900 political prisoners remain in the country."
"Beyond the deployment of about 15,000 troops and a massive naval fleet off Venezuela's coast, the US has intensified pressure in recent weeks with a total blockade of sanctioned oil tankers entering and leaving the country, the seizure of two vessels and the pursuit of a third, and airstrikes on boats that have killed 105 people in the Caribbean and the Pacific."
"The prisoner releases followed a period of escalating internal repression, during which the opposition has been left with virtually no prominent figures either free or still in the country the opposition leader Maria Corina Machado, for example, is temporarily in exile after travelling to Norway to receive her Nobel peace prize. In recent weeks alone, a political scientist, an activist and union leaders were arrested,"
Venezuela announced the release of 99 people detained for protesting after the 28 July 2024 election, while civil society warns at least 900 political prisoners remain. The government labels the freed individuals as participants in violence and frames the release as a gesture of peace amid alleged US aggression. The United States has deployed military forces, blockaded sanctioned oil tankers, seized vessels, and carried out airstrikes that have killed 105 people. The releases follow intensified repression that has driven opposition leaders into exile and prompted recent arrests and convictions of activists.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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