María Corina Machado with the leader of the resistance, Perkins Rocha, kidnapped by the Venezuelan regime. Photo: @MariaCorinaYA
María Corina Machado denied that Perkins Rocha, her personal lawyer and representative of the Order with the movement of Venezuela, was kidnapped by representatives of the regime of Nicolás Maduro. and, until now, it is not known where he was.
This was revealed by Machado through his X account in which he confirmed that The kidnappings and political persecution against those who oppose Maduro will not stop.
“The Nicolás Maduro regime has kidnapped my friend and partner in the cause, Perkins Rocha who is our personal lawyer, our Legal Coordinator and representative of the Command with Venezuela before the National Electoral Commission (CNE)”he denied.
The Nicolás Maduro regime has kidnapped my friend and partner in the cause, Perkins Rocha (@PerkinsRocha).
Perkins is our personal attorney, our Legal Coordinator and representative of the @ConVzlaCommand before the CNE.
A kind, brave, intelligent and generous man. A… pic.twitter.com/V1DTpUEodt— María Corina Machado (@MariaCorinaYA) August 27, 2024
Rocha is one of the most visible leaders of the Venezuelan opposition and, since the last elections, the protests against the alleged irregularities that occurred in the electoral contest and similar rigging by the CNE in the same process have not stopped, statements that are rather uncomfortable for President Maduro.
“A fair, brave, intelligent and generous man. Unique Venezuela. They try to break us, unfocus and scare us. We move on, for Perkins, for all those imprisoned and persecuted, and for all of Venezuela. We will be free,” concluded Machado.
Rocha’s last interview
August 25 last year Rocha was invited to the program Opening doors by journalist Margarita Oropeza. In that interview he made sure that he punishes and Those who disagree with Nicolás Maduro are being persecuted, words that seemed to foretell what would happen to him.
“My right to say ‘no’ is an inalienable right and right now they are being punished and persecuted for disagreeing with Mr. Nicolás Maduro and his ruling party,” he said, calling on the regime to sit down to talk and make governing deals. done in the next five months.
“But my right to say NO is an inalienable right and right now people are being punished and persecuted for dissenting from Mr Nicolás Maduro and his ruling party , this looks like a reflection to me… Let’s take advantage of these 5 months to understand each other” @PerkinsRocha pic.twitter.com/8hlN3fcpY3
— Margarita Oropeza (@moropeza_vv) August 25, 2024
However, since the Venezuelan Government was rejected, he assured that the only thing the Venezuelan people have is “the word and the word” since the institution was lost.
“In Venezuela, unfortunately, the institution was lost. Justice and powers are weakened and a new connection must be created between citizens and public power so that there is trust and belief in the actions of public power,” he concluded. Rocha.
A disproportionate increase in political arrests
According to the report Penal NGO Forum in Venezuela, As of July 22, 2024, there were 305 political prisoners in that country’s prisons.
But, From July 22 to August 22 – since the protests against the elected system began – and until now at least 1,674 people have been detained for political reasons, which means an increase of 449 percent.
Scale of #Political prisoners in Venezuela on 08/23/2024 by Foro Penal:
We have registered and warranted the largest number of prisoners for political reasons known in #Venezuelaat least in the 21st century. We are still receiving and registering detainees.
Total prisoners… pic.twitter.com/lLe0234l14
– Penal Forum (@ForoPenal) August 23, 2024
This data, although shocking, is nothing new for the Nicolás Maduro regime. YesAccording to the Human Rights Watch (HRW) World Report, from 2014 to 2023, more than 15,800 were arrested. of people whose only crime was to protest against what they consider to be a failed State.
