José Antonio Colina, president of the non-government organization Venezuelans Persecuted Politically in Exile (VEPPEX), warned in comments to Breitbart News that the Venezuelan socialist regime has increased its repression of civilians and journalists following the capture of Nicolás Maduro.
Colina, a retired military officer and political exile, spoke with Breitbart News about the increased repression against civil society and civilians by the Venezuelan socialist regime in the days following Saturday’s U.S. law enforcement action in Caracas that resulted in the capture of Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
Since then, the Venezuelan regime, now led by “acting president” Delcy Rodríguez, has availed itself of a decree imposing a “State of Emergency” on Venezuela which, among other commands, tasks national, state, and municipal police with searching and capturing “any person involved in promoting or supporting the armed attack by the United States of America against the territory of the Republic.”
On Monday night, the official account of the Mérida state police announced on Instagram that two unidentified men, aged 64 and 65, were arrested in the municipality of Guaraque for celebrating the “kidnapping” of Nicolás Maduro.
“When it happened [Maduro’s capture], everyone celebrated in the streets of Madrid, Doral, Colombia; no one came out in Venezuela for fear of being victimized by the regime’s repressive apparatus,” Colina told Breitbart News. “It is clear that anyone caught celebrating will be thrown in jail.”
Referring to the public threats recently issued by Interior Minister and long-suspected drug lord Diosdado Cabello against Venezuelans, Colina explained that these threats are part of the “dynamics and repressive characteristics” of the Venezuelan regime.
“The fact that Diosdado is at the head of the repressive apparatus is extremely worrying, as he directs the strategies of the Venezuelan tyranny,” Colina said. “It is no secret that he had already mentioned that if there was an intervention, they would go against the population.”
Colina stressed that he finds Cabello’s threats “concerning” and asserted that, although the United States is in control of the democratic transition process in Venezuela, “it would seem like they [the regime] are” the ones in charge.
The VEPPEX president emphasized that the colectivos, armed socialist gangs at the service of the Venezuelan regime, have been actively deployed on the streets of Venezuela since Maduro’s capture on Saturday, immediately going to the homes of citizens to intimidate people and check cell phones for any content critical of the regime or supportive of the United States’ actions against Maduro — going as far as to set up checkpoints in the streets of the country to such ends.
“In this case, the repressive apparatus of persecution is carried out by groups under the control of Diosdado Cabello,” Colina explained.
The regime’s repression has not been limited to regular citizens, but also to journalists from multiple outlets that have simply been attempting to carry out their work.
On Monday, the Venezuelan National Press Workers’ Union (SNTP) denounced that at least 14 journalists, many of them belonging to international outlets, were detained by regime officials. SNTP detailed that 13 were released and one deported over the following hours.
Referring to the cases denounced by SNTP, Colina explained to Breitbart News that the socialist regime “almost immediately” took reprisals against media, starting during Delcy Rodríguez’s “swearing-in” ceremony, which Colina described as “false.”
“The regime prohibited recording videos or taking photos at the false swearing of Delcy. It is clear and evident that although they have a communications monopoly and control all media, those they cannot control intimidate them and [they] prevent them from doing their job,” Colina said.
“They arrest them to generate panic and fear. That journalist will not dare to publish anything against the regime,” he continued, and stressed that the regime aims to inflict fear against remaining outlets in Venezuela, coercing them not to go against the regime.
As a result of the fierce censorship that the socialist regime has imposed on traditional Venezuelan media, Colina emphasized to Breitbart News that Venezuelans inside the country were only able to find out about the United States’ military operation to capture Maduro through social media.
Lastly, Colina asserted to Breitbart News that Delcy Rodríguez and the regime’s structure “has not given indication that they are following the guidelines of the United States,” nor has it released any of the hundreds of political prisoners that still remain unjustly detained — stressing that “a country that has political prisoners is not a stable country.”
The Venezuelan activist called upon the United States to verify if Rodríguez and those who committed to a democratic transition in Venezuela are “actually doing it,” because, in his opinion, they are not.
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