“I took off my mask to clean myself and put it back on. And they told me 'come over there ”. Roberto Vargas was separated by the military while he was shopping in Caracas, Venezuela, for allegedly failing to comply with quarantine regulations. Walking without a mask on the street or leaving the house when it is not allowed are two of the many reasons why a security officer can detain any Venezuelan during the state of emergency declared by the coronavirus pandemic. The funny thing is that it seems that there is no fine established for any of these offenses, but it is up to each officer to determine what the method of punishment will be.
So some force them to squat, others to sit indefinitely in the sun, or even squat. Sometimes they must repeat slogans like "I must not leave the house." In other cases, some victims of this improvised system have reported being beaten. On practically no occasion is there a record of what happened, not even when the penalty is momentary deprivation of liberty.
Already in April, the NGOs Acceso a la Justicia and Provea warned about the worsening of the human rights situation after the declaration of a state of alarm by the Nicolás Maduro regime. But the behavior has not changed. Venezuela has militarized its response to the pandemic and has put in place a system that is constantly lengthening in time, without having a planned end.
According to the count published by the Ministry of Popular Power for Health this Tuesday, there are 26,800 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the country. The death toll is 226, six more than on Monday.
Information about the coronavirus
- Here you can follow the last hour on the evolution of the pandemic
- This is how the coronavirus curve evolves in Spain and in each autonomy
- Search engine: The new normal by municipalities
- Questions and answers about the coronavirus
- Guide to action against the disease