Families grieve as Venezuela fails to release political prisoners, despite Biden administration deal

• Venezuela failed to release hundreds of political prisoners in late November, despite agreeing to do so as part of a deal with the Biden administration, according to The Washington Post.
• Relatives of those prisoners once expressed optimism for their expected release, but now mourn their absence, the Post reported.
• “The Álvarez Pena family believes in the magic of Christmas and in miracles,” Wendelin Pena told the Post.

Families are grieving because Venezuela failed to release political prisoners by the end of November, despite promising to do so as part of a deal with the Biden administration, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

The Biden administration reached an agreement with Venezuela in October to provide Oil sanctions relief if President Nicolás Maduro's regime holds fair and democratic elections next year and releases approximately 300 political prisoners, including three Americans, seconds in the Post. The November 30 deadline to release the prisoners, however, passed without Venezuela taking any action.

Wendelin Pena, the mother of 24-year-old John Alvarez, told the Post she hoped her son would be released soon. Alvarez was charged with terrorism and conspiracy after being arrested in August for publishing treasonous pamphlets., which her mother denies she did.

“The Álvarez Pena family believes in the magic of Christmas and in miracles,” Pena cried, according to the Post. “We believe John will come home. We believe President Joe Biden and the international community can make this miracle happen.”

Isn't Venezuela run by the bad guys? https://t.co/w1KPkdyvB3

— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) November 27, 2022

Alvarez is currently in prison and has suffered beatings and electroshock torture, which has resulted in partial vision loss and kidney damage, his lawyer and mother told the Post. His mother prayed for her son's release at a Christmas festival in Caracas on Friday, which included a large table adorned with decorations and empty chairs bearing the names of Venezuela's political prisoners.

“Christmas is such an important and meaningful celebration in Venezuela, so we're asking for a holiday without political prisoners, to fill their empty seats,” Victor Navarro, an activist and former political prisoner, told the Post.

Melania Benitez's sister, Emirlendris, was arrested in August 2018 on terrorism charges, according to the Post. She was arrested after accompanying her boyfriend, a taxi driver, on a ride with passengers accused of trying to assassinate Maduro with a drone.

“His only crime was being in the wrong place at the wrong time — I mean, he didn't even know what a drone was,” Martha Tineo, a human rights lawyer, told the Post. “But that's how 98 percent of these cases are. Although we call them political prisoners, only 2% are actually political.”

Benitez was suffocated with plastic bags and beaten to the point where she now uses a wheelchair and has a disfigured face, her sister told the Post. She was pregnant at the time of her arrest and was reportedly forced to have an abortion.

“We cannot stop advocating for these people, because the worst thing that can happen to a political prisoner is to be forgotten,” Antony Vegas, a former political prisoner, told the Post.

In addition to refusing to release its political prisoners, Venezuela has not followed through on aspects of the deal it negotiated with the Biden administration. Maduro promised the Biden administration that he would hold free and fair elections next year, however frozen the results of the primary election results of his main political opponent and issued arrest warrants for three of his campaign staff, according to the Post.

The Biden administration has not reimposed the sanctions, despite Venezuela's blatant disregard for the terms of the agreement, the Post reported.

“Simply put, the US looks weak,” Enderson Sequera, a Venezuelan political analyst, told the Post. “Since the terms of the agreement were blatantly violated by Maduro, it only goes to show that the Biden administration is more concerned with having a more favorable electoral outlook in 2024 than with Venezuelan democracy and the release of political prisoners”.

“These actions are unacceptable. If it is not immediately reversed, the United States will take the necessary steps to reimpose sanctions,” a State Department spokesman told the Post.

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