[ad_1]
Venezuela: Machado’s chief bodyguard included in list of political prisoners
Avila is a prominent former police officer who served as Machado’s bodyguard for 10 years.
Venezuela’s disenfranchised opposition leader
María Corina Machado, who supports Edmundo González Urrutia in the July 28 elections, said early Wednesday that the head of her security team, Milciades Ávila, had been kidnapped by the Nicolás Maduro regime and his whereabouts are unknown.
Machado posted on X: “I believe Nicolás Maduro is responsible for the physical well-being of Milciades Ávila and the other 24 members of our group who were kidnapped and are now prisoners of tyranny.”
She also explained that Ávila was accused of “gender violence against some women who tried to attack Edmundo and me last Saturday in La Encrucijada”. The incident happened on the way from Valencia to Caracas, when she and González stopped there to eat after a campaign rally, and the police set up excessive obstacles on the street to prevent followers from attending the rally in the city 125 kilometers southwest of Caracas.
“There are dozens of witnesses and videos that prove that this action was a premeditated provocation to leave us without protection 11 days before July 28,” Machado insisted, noting that Avila had served as her bodyguard for 10 years.
Avila is a distinguished former police officer
“They traveled with me all over the country, risking their lives to protect me,” Machado added, also claiming that “Maduro campaigned with violence and repression.”
Earlier this week, the nongovernmental organization Foro Penal denounced the arrest of at least 102 people associated with González Urrutia’s Democratic Unity Platform, 77 of whom were detained during the July 4 launch of the movement.
Gonzalo Himiob of Foro Penal said it showed “clear action against radicals, militants or those who provided services to González Urrutia and Machado.”
According to foreign media reports, there are currently more than 300 political prisoners in Venezuela.
[ad_2]
Source link
