CLIPPVE representatives continue to be skeptical despite recent information regarding prisoner release announcements. Some, like Sosa, were promised their loved ones would be freed, but that has yet to happen.
A representative from CLIPPVE, who also has a family member in prison, told Al Jazeera on the condition of anonymity, “There is a lot of anger because the authorities have used the releases in a very opaque and obscure way.”
Some families have even been subject to arrest threats and reprimands for protesting their loved ones’ continued detention.
Rivas, who is part of CLIPPVE, underscored that continuing to fight is imperative. The government is under increasing pressure to release the prisoners as the public becomes less aware.
Rivas said, “I am well aware that oblivion is the worst thing that could happen to political prisoners.”
For Davila, the need to raise awareness is at the heart of her mission at Defiende Venezuela. She has documented Armas’s case as well as many others.
“At least by reporting to international organisations, we make sure that there is a record of the human rights violations that are occurring, because if we only relied on the organisations in Venezuela, we wouldn’t have any record”, Davila said.
Rivas, meanwhile, has not heard from her boyfriend in a month. He is no longer permitted to make calls or visits.
Even worse, Rivas is now a target of an arrest threat. In his weekly television program, Con El Mazo Dando, a religious reference loosely translated as “hitting with a club,” minister of justice and peace Diosdado Cabello called Rivas out by name.
Cabello has been accused of using the platform to pick political repression targets by critics.
“This has been quite distressing”, Rivas said. She added that she currently takes care of Armas’s elderly parents. “If we were both arrested, his parents would have no one to turn to”.
Despite the risks, Rivas is resolute that silence is not an option.
Source: Aljazeera
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