Prisoners Defenders on Venezuela Under Maduro

Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen

Publication (Outlet/Website): The Good Men Project

Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/08/25

*Interview conducted August 7, 2024.*

Javier Larrondo Calafat is the President of Prisoners Defenders. Here we talk about the large number of political prisoners in Cuba.

Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Recently, there has been what some call “violence” in Venezuela, including mass arrests. Human rights organizations have provided approximate numbers, and Maduro’s government has given their own figures. 

Javier Larrondo Calafat: Notably, Maduro did not present the mandatory minutes required by law for election validation, while the opposition did present 80% of the minutes they could access, despite being impeded from obtaining the remaining 20%. These 80% of the minutes are public and have been analyzed by human rights organizations and other independent entities. The results show approximately 70% support for the new president and only 30% for Maduro. Even though 20% of the minutes are missing, the results appear clear because the government has not presented their version of the minutes. Conversely, the opposition has publicly presented theirs. If the government wanted to dispute the opposition’s numbers, it would be straightforward for them to verify the minutes and highlight any discrepancies.

However, the government has not done so. They have not presented the required minutes, which is a legal obligation. Therefore, democratic countries should recognize the opposition’s victory after so many days since July 28th. There is no need to ask for the minutes anymore; they should have been presented promptly after the election.

The government’s refusal to discuss the opposition’s data or publicly dismantle the opposition’s minutes, which include verifiable QR codes and hash numbers, is telling. Democratic countries should recognize the opposition as the legitimate winners.

In Europe, for example, the focus is on demanding Maduro present the minutes. It’s time to acknowledge that the election was a farce and the numbers were falsified. There are pictures on social networks showing the election screens with results favoring the opposition. The Carter Center, a credible international observer, did not receive valid official counts and has denied the validity of Maduro’s numbers.

We are wasting time due to a lack of courage to face the truth and its consequences. This lack of action from the European Union is shameful. They should ratify the opposition as winners, which is evident today. Perhaps it wasn’t clear on the first few days, but with all the analyzed and public minutes and Maduro’s inability to dismantle them, it is clear that the opposition should be recognized as the winners.

Truth is often not recognized because of the consequences. The consequences would include expelling people from embassies, refusing to recognize the legitimacy of those in the embassies, not recognizing Maduro’s government, breaking relations with Maduro, and acknowledging the harsh realities that are hard for some to accept. Many people prefer to avoid problems.

One day, back in 1939, Europe had a lot of problems, and Britain and the United States came to rescue Europe. Now, we are not acting in accordance with the help we received. We were granted freedom by countries like the United States and Great Britain, which were not invaded but saved us from the hell of Hitler.

Now, we are doing nothing for those countries governed by tyrants, and that is a shame for me. It’s common during politically repressive times, especially when official minutes are not provided and independent analyses show at least 1,100 prisoners. 

Jacobsne: Whether they are prisoners of conscience or political prisoners, what is the status of such events when there are large-scale arrests and reactions from the international community? Typically, has the response been moderate, or have there been stronger applications of international pressure to address and correct human rights abuses?

Calafat: We call them human rights violations.Arbitrary detentions and imprisonments by the government are crimes against humanity. In Venezuela, we are witnessing crimes against humanity. The official number, set publicly by Maduro a few days ago, indicated 2,000 detainees in maximum security prisons. Given the time that has passed, the number is likely higher.

Human rights organizations in Venezuela have verified around 1,100 prisoners, but the official count of over 2,000 stands because Maduro publicly admitted it. It is very sad because these people have been, and continue to be, tortured over the past decade. In Europe, we are still asking Maduro for the minutes. It’s not the time to ask for the minutes; it’s time to recognize the opposition, sever ties with Maduro’s regime, and act according to international law.

Jacobsen: What about threats from Attorney General Tarek William Saab against organizations reporting on these arrests? 

Calafat: That should be the final straw. But it seems that those in charge of foreign affairs in Europe tend to think that problems will eventually go away, which they do not. If you look elsewhere, things don’t get better. You have to act. And I like what Biden did. I like it very much. He was very congruent with the situation.

Maduro is a dictator. Maduro is committing crimes against humanity. Maduro did not win the election. Maduro did not fulfill the Venezuelan law to present the minutes to the opposition and demonstrate he won the election. In contrast, the opposition presented 80% of the minutes they could obtain, despite being impeded from getting the remaining 20%, which is against Venezuelan law. What more can we ask from a nonviolent opposition? They deserve our support.

It seems like in the European Union, we are cowards, and those problems will come back to us. It’s not effective to look elsewhere and hope the sun will shine tomorrow on its own. Human rights do not prevail unless governments worldwide fight for them.

I see the numbers here in one press release: 67% of the votes were for the opposition, while Maduro only achieved 30%. This should be a straightforward transition of power. Even if the missing 20% were all for Maduro, he would still have lost. The situation is very clear.

Jacobsen: Are opposition leaders like María Corina Machado currently in hiding, or were they previously in hiding and have now emerged to make public statements?

Calafat: María Corina Machado was hiding because Maduro wants her detained. She appeared in a public demonstration with tens of thousands of Venezuelans in Caracas. She’s doing the right thing. If Maduro imprisons Maria Corina, Edmundo, and their team, countries in the European Union will not be pressured to speak the truth about what is happening. They are acting wisely by hiding from Maduro’s political police, but they are in Venezuela, risking their lives.

It’s sad. Many people have the courage to risk their lives, and in Europe, we don’t do enough. It’s shameful. I’m ashamed of the European Union’s foreign policies and the lack of support we provide to the civil societies of Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus.

We support Zelensky, but this should be our war too, not just Zelensky’s or Ukraine’s. It’s sad because these issues will come back to us, as they did with Hitler, Poland, and Austria. They will surely come back to us.

Jacobsen: What about the support from Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico?

Calafat: They are playing the fool, giving Maduro time, basically. They cannot support Maduro because it’s a shameful farce, what Maduro did. So what they are doing is just giving him time and telling others not to recognize that Maduro lost, which aligns with Maduro’s interests. I believe former American President Trump was refusing to condemn Maduro at some point recently. As for what Trump does now, I don’t follow him much because I follow what the president says since that’s important. Now he’s in a campaign, like Kamala Harris. I don’t pay much attention to politicians when they are in a campaign. I focus on what the men and women in charge are saying.

Jacobsen: Is there anything else we’re not covering on this topic, or is that pretty much it for now?

Calafat: No, not really. That is the situation. I received a message from Antonio Ledesma, the international coordinator for María Corina Machado. I have a close relationship with him. It’s very sad. He’s saying the same thing: it’s not the time to ask for the minutes. It’s time to press Maduro and not recognize him as the legitimate president.

That’s all they have to do, but they don’t. In the European Union and other countries, they don’t follow that step. It’s sad to see that, in these situations, the United States often act more congruently than the country I live in. It’s pretty sad to see it happening repeatedly.

Even though they committed fatal errors like the war in Iraq and the Afghanistan occupation, I pay attention to 100% of their decisions. Support from democratic countries is crucial. I regret what the European Union does, and I tend to think that the United States often supports democratic civil societies in many countries, more so than the errors they committed, even if those errors were grave.

Because of their previous president, how was his name? It doesn’t come to mind now. George Bush Jr. entered Iraq just to name an enemy that wasn’t behind the terrorist attacks. But those were different administrations and different people. I don’t see Biden committing those errors. I hope the European Union does better in the near future.

Jacobsen: I hope so. Did you want to give any commentary on Daniel Ferrer?

Calafat: I think it’s been more than 6 months. He has not been able to talk to anyone. We don’t know if he’s alive or not. 6 months or 4 months, something like that. In February or March, he was seen for 2 minutes. I think I told you about it. He was on the floor, beaten badly, but for the past 4 months, he has not been seen or heard from.

I’m very worried about him. That’s another person with courage, and the European Union is missing in action. They don’t even post a Twitter message about all the people imprisoned in Cuba without reason, who are so innocent and brave. The whole situation is very sad, and I’m worried about Jose Ferrer.

I’m worried about his health. I’m worried about his whereabouts. I don’t know what will happen there. But if you let the dog bite you, he will bite you again. And we are letting these dogs bite the democrats—Maduro, Diaz-Canel, Ortega, and so on. So I don’t know how these politicians in Europe think things will get better if they let the dogs bite the democrats. The dogs will grow, bite more, and become more dangerous. That’s an obvious thing.

Jacobsen: Recently, there was a political prisoner swap with Russia. What do you make of this? 

Calafat: I was very impressed. 

Jacobsen: What do you think some of the thinking was behind that? Not that there was a release and an exchange, which was good, but it’s so unusual it raises questions. What do you think was the context for them?

Calafat: I don’t really know the benefit for the Russian government in doing that. I don’t have it very clear. The exchange, yes. I don’t know exactly the details of the exchange, but when I see Americans being liberated by their government. It’s because their government has been working very hard to get them out of that hell. That is completely opposite to what is happening to Luis Frometa, for example, in Cuba.

We talked about Luis Frometa, the German who is in prison in Cuba. The German government has not done enough. Up to now, or up to some months ago, they did almost nothing to liberate him. They were saying, “Well, it’s up to the Cuban authorities, and we cannot do anything.” Yes, you can. See what the Americans do for their citizens? It’s important to protect your citizens. It’s important to say to your citizens, when you have a problem, your government is behind you. Even if it becomes an international crisis, the government will support you. That is very important.

By the way, Jose Ferrer had his birthday on July 29th. We released a video on his case that day, remembering him, and we released a video with his whole life story. His wife and kids tried to see him in jail, and again, they could not. Every week, they go to the prison to try to see him, and the authorities don’t let them. So we don’t know about his whereabouts. They are very worried. I know him very well and consider him a very close person. It’s a very sad situation.

Calafat: Javier, thank you very much for your time again. Appreciate it.

Jacobsen: Thank you very much.

Calafat: Thank you very much.

Jacobsen: Okay, I’ll be in touch. Bye-bye.

Calafat: Thank you.

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In-Sight Publishing by Scott Douglas Jacobsen is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License. ©Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing 2012-Present. Unauthorized use or duplication of material without express permission from Scott Douglas Jacobsen strictly prohibited, excerpts and links must use full credit to Scott Douglas Jacobsen and In-Sight Publishing with direction to the original content.