Nicolás Maduro announces the preparation of re-education camps to imprison detained demonstrators

On Thursday, Aug. 1, Dictator Nicolas Maduro announced preparation of two massive maximum security prisons for detained protesters, which will serve as de facto re-education camps, according to the socialist leader's own words.

In an announcement televised by his propaganda channel VTV, Maduro affirmed that he will be "preparing two jails that I must have ready in 15 days, they are already being repaired."

"All the guarimberos (protesters who oppose the fraud) are going to Tocorón and Tocuyito, maximum security prisons," added the dictator in reference to the two prisons that for years were under the control of criminal gangs until the regime recovered them last year in two different interventions.

Maduro then proceeded to announce the number of captured demonstrators, stating in advance that all of them would go to the prisons: "We have more than 1,200 captured and we are looking for 1,000 more and we are going to catch them all, because they were trained in the United States, in Texas; in Colombia, in Peru and in Chile."

Subsequently, the socialist dictator, who faces strong international pressure to recognize his defeat or show proof of his alleged "victory" last Sunday, revealed that the prisons will serve as "re-education" centers for the protesters; whom he described as "terrorists" and "delinquents."

"And they have guaranteed me the mission I gave them," Maduro told those present. "That is why I have decided to create these two maximum security prisons for all the new generation gangs that are involved in the guarimba (protests) and the criminal attack. There is not going to be forgiveness or contemplation, within the framework of the Constitution and the laws. We are making a bet to see if these maximum security prisons achieve re-education and become productive farms, that they get to produce and work, as in those days, when they were taken out to build highways."

Strong repression in Venezuela

Maduro's threats to protesters come at a time of savage repression in Venezuela.

Since last Sunday, when the Venezuelan National Electoral Council (CNE) announced a massive electoral fraud, Venezuelans took to the streets in protest and the response from the authorities has been fierce: 17 confirmed murders, hundreds of people shot and wounded and more than 1,000 arrested is the tally in less than four days of protests and repression.

Sources to VOZ said the situation of those detained in the post-election protests is particularly delicate in the Venezuelan capital Caracas. A lawyer on the ground said that irregularities and violations of fundamental rights in detention and prosecution procedures are constant and cause terror for family members.

A human rights activist from the Civilis organization stated that detainees are taken to security command centers or to the Maripérez National Command Center, where the initial screening is carried out before men are transferred to the headquarters of the Bolivarian National Police (PNB) in Boleíta and women to the headquarters in El Valle. In all the facilities, according to various testimonies gathered by VOZ, the relatives do not have direct access to the detainees and have to make do with handwritten notes that the officers verify in an haphazard manner.

"On top of this, the food is delivered in the same way. You stand in line and give it to the official, but you have no certainty that it is, in fact, delivered," the activist told VOZ.

Experts agree that repression could increase in the coming days, especially on Saturday, when Venezuelans return to the streets following the call of opposition leader María Corina Machado. With electoral records in hand, she declares the triumph of Edmundo Gonzalez in last Sunday's elections before Venezuelans and the world.

This triumph has already been recognized by the international community, including the United States.