The bolivarian revolution has begun to release political prisoners, as it had negotiated with the United States before signing the “partial agreement” in Barbados with the opposition Unitary Platform. At the head of the first group is the journalist Roland Carrenoalso an activist from Voluntad Popular, the first to leave the facilities of the sinister Helicoide prison, one of the headquarters of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin).
In this first group there is also Juan Requesens, deputy for Primero Justicia (PJ) and former university leader. Requesens was falsely accused of participating in the alleged drone attack against Nicolas Maduro and imprisoned in 2018, where he suffered torture in the first weeks. Thanks to other agreements with the Bolivarian regime, he began to suffer house arrest. Before his imprisonment, Requesens was called to lead the process of regeneration of the Venezuelan opposition leadership.
“I can only say that I am happy to return to the streets of my country. We need to meet again, we need to look each other in the face. This country belongs to everyone, especially Venezuela,” said Carreño as soon as he left the Helicoide. Gerardo Blyde and Tomás Guanipa, members of the opposition delegation in Barbados, were waiting for him outside. Blyde, head of the group, announced that more releases are expected in the coming hours. When he was illegally detained three years ago, Carreño was part of the work team of the then interim president, Juan Guaidó.
At the moment, the other prisoners released tonight are Eurinel Rincón, Mariana Barreto and Marco Antonio Garcés, so 268 political prisoners still remain in Maduro’s dungeons.
The release of the prisoners took place a few hours after the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, made public the ultimatum granted by Washington until the end of November for the release of all Venezuelan and American political prisoners. Joe Biden’s administration also demands the political rehabilitation of all opposition candidates, including conservative María Corina Machado, a big favorite for the primaries to be contested next Sunday.