Diosdado Cabello criticizes that those who advocate for "alleged political prisoners" do not mention Maduro

Caracas.- Venezuelan Minister of Interior and Justice, Diosdado Cabello, criticized this Wednesday that those who "campaign" for those he considered "alleged political prisoners" in Venezuela do not name President Nicolás Maduro, who was captured by the U.S. in Caracas and transferred to that country to be tried for allegedly committing several crimes.

"Those who today campaign for the supposed political prisoners of Venezuela are celebrating because President Nicolás Maduro is kidnapped in the United States. They applaud it. Why don't they ask (for his release)? He (Maduro) is a political prisoner. It's hypocrisy," Cabello claimed in his weekly program 'Con el mazo dando'.

Maduro is accused in the United States of four federal charges: narco-terrorism conspiracy, conspiracy to import cocaine, possession of machine guns and destructive devices, and conspiracy to possess those same artifacts in support of criminal activities, as well as collaborating with criminal organizations classified as terrorists by Washington.

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In a broadcast on the state-owned channel Venezolana de Televisión (VTV), the considered number two of Chavismo reiterated that the releases of the last weeks in Venezuela respond to a coexistence plan presented by the acting president, Delcy Rodríguez, who assumed the position after the capture of Maduro.

The Release of Political Prisoners

Earlier, the NGO Foro Penal, dedicated to the defense of political prisoners, confirmed twenty new releases, bringing its verified cases to 297 since the beginning of the release process, announced by the government in charge of Delcy Rodríguez on January 8th. That day, Venezuelan authorities announced the process of releasing a "significant number of people", without specifying the quantity, identities, or conditions of these measures, which is why several NGOs and relatives of political prisoners are demanding a list to know who the beneficiaries are. Cabello assured last Monday that 808 people have been released since "before December", without specifying the date, and denied the existence of political prisoners in the country.