Venezuela: Dinorah Figuera Meets with Political Prisoners’ Relatives
and hears their demands regarding the dialogue
They relatives of Venezuela’s political prisoners are asking to be included on the agenda of the transition talks.
HAVANA TIMES – Dinorah Figuera, president of the National Assembly elected in 2015, met Tuesday with relatives of political prisoners and former detainees, who presented her with a formal letter requesting that the situation of people imprisoned for political reasons be included in the dialogue with the government.
The meeting was attended by lawmakers Ramon Lopez and Jorge Millan, along with former political prisoners Americo De Grazia, Angel Aristimuño and Roberto Marrero. Among the relatives present was Verushcka Silva de Guevara, wife of Otoniel Guevara, who also raised the cases of Rolando and Juan Guevara. The three brothers have been imprisoned for more than 21 years.
Figuera reaffirmed her commitment to freedom and democracy and noted that two members of her negotiating team — Macario Gonzalez and Marco Bozo — are themselves former political prisoners.
The meeting comes at a delicate moment: talks between the 2015 National Assembly faction and the Chavista government, represented by Jorge Rodriguez, began on July 18 and, since August 1, have focused on strengthening institutions, the electoral system and guarantees for political participation.
The relatives had already publicly warned in July that the release of detainees should be a priority. They have now formally presented that demand to one of the parties involved in the process. The request is neither new nor isolated: it is part of a longstanding demand by human rights organizations and the families themselves, who have denounced judicial delays, prison conditions and longstanding cases that remain unresolved.
The dialogue is moving forward on structural issues, but pressure from those with relatives behind bars serves as a reminder that any process aimed at easing political tensions faces a concrete obstacle: the existence of people detained for political reasons. Whether or not this issue is included in the talks will be one of the tests of how serious the negotiations are.
So far, there has been no information on whether the families’ request will be formally presented to the government side or what response it might receive.