Dozens of “arbitrary detentions” have been reported just days into Venezuela’s presidential election campaign, according to a human rights NGO.
A report by the Peace Laboratory stated that 48 of the 71 registered arrests involved people who provided some type of service to the campaign command of opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia, of the Democratic Unitary Platform.
All of the arrests occurred between July 4 and 14, and most occurred in the state of Táchira, the report said. The NGO also reported 26 cases of harassment, 11 obstructions to free movement, two closures of facilities and three raids.
The NGO said the figures were part of a “recurring pattern” of Venezuelans being “systematically” targeted for political reasons “at a national level” and warned of concerns that such actions would increase as elections approached.
A CNN has contacted the Venezuelan Public Ministry and the National Electoral Council for comment.
Critics of President Nicolás Maduro’s government have long accused him of rigging votes and silencing the opposition, with the 2018 election that returned Maduro to office described as illegitimate by an alliance of 14 Latin American nations, Canada and the United States.
This time, two opposition candidates – Maria Corina Machado and Corina Yoris – were barred from running, despite Maduro’s promise to the United States that he would hold free and fair elections in exchange for sanctions relief.
The election is scheduled for July 28. Ten candidates are running, including incumbent Maduro, who is seeking re-election for another six years after 11 years in power.
Maduro’s main opponent is González Urrutia, who represents an alliance that brings together the main opposition parties and leaders in Venezuela.
The opposition campaign’s legal advisor, Perkins Rocha, said on Sunday that at least 11 people linked to the campaign’s leadership were arrested over the weekend.
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Source: CNN Brasil
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