es 
Recent statements made by the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, Yván Gil, raised controversy. In the middle of the Biodiversity Summit (COP16) held in Colombia, the Chancellor denied to the press that there was a single political prisoner in Venezuela, while international organizations could not agree less.
The report of the United Nations Fact-Finding Mission speaks of more than 2,000 detainees in circumstances of political persecution in Venezuela, among them journalists, human rights activists and minors.
Social network users do not agree with Gil’s assessment either. Throughout the last few years, the digital citizen protest has focused on demanding the release of political prisoners, those that according to the State “do not exist”.
How are 2,000 political prisoners hidden?
Yván Gil’s statement that “Venezuela is a country free of political prisoners” is not an isolated statement, but responds to a narrative that the Maduro regime has been building to justify the arrests before and after the July 28 presidential elections.
The regime has built a discourse that is replicated in networks and through proxy media in which the protesters are labeled as terrorists and the persecution is justified as an act to preserve peace. In fact, the Chancellor invited journalists to go to Venezuela to “see the peace and growth” of the country.
The peace narrative is constant. In the midst of the protests over the 28J elections, the hashtags #Paz and #Justicia were used by various government entities (military and non-military) in Venezuela to push a false narrative of “calm” that in reality masked the use of repressive tactics to instill fear and anxiety among critics of the regime.
In fact, on election day, the Ministry of Communication and Information (MIPPCI), promoted #VotaPorLaPaz2024 with more than 64,600 tweets, and the following day continued its narrative with #GanóLaPazYLaEsperanza with a photo of Maduro smiling after voting. The latter gathered 50,600 tweets.
That same hashtag #GanóLaPazYLaEsperanza together with #PuebloDeJusticia was used a week after the election Sunday. Both promoted by the MIPPCI were used by governors and ministers, but especially by accounts of the military high command, as is the case of the general commander of the Strategic Command of the Bolivarian National Armed Force (CEOFANB), Domingo Hernández Lárez. and the General Commander of the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB), showing the detention of women who, according to the latter, are part of “sleeper cells of the little commanders of violence” with “terrorist” intentions.
The regime claims that the detainees are “terrorists”, “guarimberos”, “fascists”. The campaign in networks also focused on disqualifying the comanditos and promoting their persecution. In this way, they do not speak of political prisoners, but of “terrorists” detained for the sake of “peace” in the country.
The UN does not agree with the Chancellor’s opinion
The UN Mission’s report notes that in the run-up to the elections, from December 2023 to March 2024, at least 48 people were detained on the grounds of what the Government described as conspiracies against it and arrest warrants were issued for others. These include military personnel, as well as human rights defenders, journalists and members of the political opposition.
In July alone, the mission documented more than 120 people arrested in the context of opposition campaign events. In the first week of post-election protests, according to the authorities’ own figures, more than 2,000 people were arrested. These individuals, including more than a hundred children, some with disabilities, were charged with terrorism and incitement to hatred.
After 185 pages of case documentation, the UN report concludes that crimes against humanity of politically motivated persecution are committed in Venezuela; these include arbitrary detentions, torture, short-term enforced disappearances and sexual violence, which are carried out as part of a coordinated plan to silence those who oppose or are perceived as such. These include children and adolescents, as well as people with disabilities.
The Mission details cases of 25 people killed by firearms in the recent violence. Hundreds more were injured and thousands more detained for exercising their fundamental right to freedom of expression. The violation of human rights is not only evident, but has clear perpetrators; the orders come from the high government headed by Nicolás Maduro, and are executed from all levels.
Most of these acts were carried out by the civilian (SEBIN) and military (DGCIM) intelligence services. However, together with the security forces, the powers and institutions of the State reflected their alignment with the Executive to the detriment of the independent and impartial exercise of their constitutional mandates, contributing to the commission of serious violations and crimes, assures the UN.
Political prisoners do exist in social media protests
Between January 2022 and October 2024 at least 57 trends were posted by Venezuelan civil society talking about arbitrary detentions of citizens, crimes against humanity of the State denounced at the UN and the ICC, as well as new legislation controlling the activity of NGOs in the country. These tags totaled around 778,320 messages.
At least 29 trends refer to political prisoners in the country, accumulating approximately 625,812 messages. These trends highlight several specific cases such as that of Javier Tarazona or Roland Carreño, as well as more recent cases such as the detention of teenagers after the July 28 elections.
On September 4, 2024 the hashtag #LiberenALosPresosPoliticos accumulated 32,500 tweets and has been the most recent hashtag talking about the issue in Venezuela. #MasEscuelasMenosRejas and #MaduroSecuestraNiños are also tags from where the release of the teenagers detained post 28J is demanded.
However, the protest in networks is generated long before the elections. Tags such as #YoSoyJavierTarazona, #RolandDebeEstarLibre, #YoTambienSoyIgbert have been used to call for the release of specific political prisoners at different times.
#ChristmasWithoutPoliticalPrisons is also a hashtag that is usually positioned every year in Venezuela, promoted by NGOs and relatives of detainees awaiting freedom in the face of the massive violation of their rights.
You can’t cover the sun with a finger…
According to figures from the NGO Foro Penal, as of October 28 there were at least 1,958 political prisoners in Venezuela, of which 69 are minors. These citizens were detained and are being charged for expressing a political affiliation against the Maduro regime. According to the same organization, since July 29 alone there have been more than 1,800 arrests and since 2014 almost 18,000.
Balance de #PresosPoliticos en Venezuela al 28/10/2024 por 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝗼 𝗣𝗲𝗻𝗮𝗹:
Hemos registrado y calificado el mayor número de presos con fines políticos conocido en #Venezuela, al menos en el Siglo XXI. Seguimos recibiendo y registrando detenidos.
𝗧𝗼𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗼𝘀… pic.twitter.com/l7hOEFmH4A
— Foro Penal (@ForoPenal) October 30, 2024
As much as the Maduro regime would like to, labeling the prisoners as fascists, conspirators, terrorists and inciters to hatred is not enough for human rights organizations, the international community and citizens to stop denouncing the persecution and arbitrary detentions occurring in the country, nor does it change their status as political prisoners.
