‘Much more persecution’: Venezuela prepares for inauguration of Nicolas Maduro | News about Nicolas Maduro

Bogotá, Colombia – Jesus Medina Ezaine has already spent 16 months in a Venezuelan military prison, accused of crimes he said were related to his work as a photojournalist.

But it seemed that another stint in prison was not inevitable, especially after contested re-election Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.

As Maduro was about to be sworn in for a third term, Medina (43) made a difficult decision: flee his home in Venezuela to the relative safety of Bogota, the capital of neighboring Colombia.

“Before they took me back to prison, I decided to escape,” Medina said.

Maduro’s government has long faced criticism for alleged repression political rivals. But Friday inauguration ceremony will bring the recent election crisis to a head, with observers warning that violence could escalate as Maduro seeks to hold on to power.

“The regime will do everything it can to ensure that Maduro can be re-inaugurated and can continue his administration,” said Juan Pappier, deputy director of the US division of Human Rights Watch.

“If they see that this possibility is challenged in any way, for example through [opposition-led] demonstrations, they will brutally repress them.”

A climate of fear

Medina remembers his last months in Venezuela as being drenched in fear.

On the eve of the controversial elections, he joined the opposition leader’s campaign Maria Corina Machado as a photographer, documenting her efforts to drum up support for a presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.

But that work made him a target again.

Medina was no stranger to Maduro’s government: he was arrested in 2018 on charges of money laundering, criminal conspiracy and incitement to hatred, all of which he denies.

Instead, he claims his arrest was in retaliation for his reporting on human rights abuses. He was held without trial in the Ramo Verde military prison until January 2020.

“The Venezuelan regime does not tolerate any comments or information against them,” he said.

“The media is scared,” Medina added. “Freedom of expression in Venezuela is completely lost as journalists inside Venezuela do everything they can to avoid jail.”

But presidential elections on July 28, 2024. brought political repression worse than anything Medina had witnessed before.

Hours after the polls closed, the National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner, without offering the usual analysis of the vote’s results.

Meanwhile, the opposition has released receipts that instead suggest Gonzalez won the election with nearly 70 percent of the vote. As protests broke out due to alleged election fraud, a government crackdown ensued.

As state forces cleared the streets of protesters, abducting dissidents from their homes, Medina said he was told he would be jailed — again.

He quickly hid. Medina spent two months locked up in various locations in the capital, Caracas, trying to avoid arrest. He said state intelligence forces had already knocked on the door of his house in the city.

Feeling cornered, Medina decided to flee to Bogotá on September 15, where he has remained ever since.

A wave of repression

As many as 2,500 people were eventually detained in post-election protests, according to government statistics.

Another 25 people were killed, according to independent United Nations investigators called “unprecedented levels of violence”.

UN fact-finding mission announced earlier this month that at least 56 political opposition activists, 10 journalists and one human rights defender were among those arrested between August and December.

On Tuesday, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights also published report citing systematic state repression with the intention of “preventing the political participation of the opposition” and “sowing terror among citizens”.

But ahead of Friday’s inauguration, more than 1,500 prisoners were detained in a post-election crackdown they were releasedwhich critics say could be an attempt to reduce oversight of the government’s human rights record.

Alfredo Romero, director of Foro Penal, a Venezuelan human rights organization, explained that “the number of innocent young people with their relatives, especially their mothers, at the prison gates” keeping vigil reflects badly on the Maduro administration.

Human rights groups have also questioned the accuracy of the government’s figures.

Romero said at least 1,749 prisoners remained in custody as of the first week of January, and more alleged dissidents had been detained since then.

“People may be released from prison, but that does not mean that new ones will not be imprisoned,” he said.

Inaugural Kickback

Despite widespread fears of repression, demonstrations are expected on the day of Maduro’s third inauguration.

Gonzalez, the opposition presidential candidate, also promised to return to Venezuela from his exile abroad and be sworn in on Friday. It is unclear how and if he will fulfill that promise.

In a video message posted on social media on Sunday, Machado, who has been in hiding in Venezuela for months, called on Venezuelans to march this week in support of the transition of power.

“Maduro will not go alone, we have to make him go with the power of the population that never gives up,” Machado said. “It’s time to stand firm and make them realize that this is as far as they can go. That this is over.”

On the other hand, Maduro’s government has beefed up security and deployed more than 1,200 military personnel to cities across the country to “guarantee peace” on inauguration day.

The government has also detained more than 12 human rights defenders, political activists and relatives of opposition figures in recent days, according to Amnesty International, a human rights organization.

Those arrested reportedly include Gonzalez’s son-in-law, Rafael Tudares: a presidential candidate he said Tudares was kidnapped by masked men in Caracas on Tuesday.

And on Thursday, Machado herself was detained as she left an anti-Maduro protest, according to opposition officials who said her transport was fired upon. She was quickly released.

An uncertain future

The recent arrests have sparked a new wave of international condemnation.

The United States Embassy in Venezuela has called the detention of Gonzalez’s son-in-law is an act of “intimidation” against the opposition. Colombian President Gustavo Petro he said that the arrests prevented him from attending Maduro’s inauguration on Friday.

Still, Maduro’s control of state institutions has allowed security forces to operate with impunity, according to recent reports report from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Medina himself believes that repression in Venezuela could escalate if Maduro remains in power for a third term.

“If we don’t achieve freedom, there will be much more persecution,” Medina said. “They will try to put an end to everything they see as opposition, including political leaders and the media.”

For now, he added that he hopes to continue his work on exposing human rights violations from abroad.

“What I have decided is that, no matter what, I will fight for my country.”