VALENCIA, Venezuela (Reuters) – It was curiosity that drew 15-year-old Aliangel Jose Rodriguez to one of the protests that erupted following Venezuela’s contested presidential election in late July, his mother said.
That outing led to serious consequences. Rodriguez was arrested, making him one of dozens of minors still detained amid political and social upheaval in Venezuela, relatives and rights groups say.
“A boy who is always studying… cannot be labeled a terrorist,” his mother Maria Tovar said tearfully from their modest home in the state of Carabobo, about 110 miles (177 km) west of Caracas.
According to data from local human rights group Foro Penal, Carabobo has the highest number of “political prisoners” in Venezuela, accounting for 297 cases out of 1,916 nationally.
Seventy of the detainees are between the ages of 14 and 17.
Since July 29, the day after the election, 1,784 individuals have been arrested in Venezuela, according to Foro Penal, potentially facing charges of “terrorism” or “incitement to hatred” and between 10 and 30 years in prison.
“Even the most hardened criminals wouldn’t get a 10-year sentence for something they didn’t do, simply for stepping onto a highway to watch some lights,” added Tovar, a pair of worn bibles visible next to her.
During a visit to his place of incarceration, her son told her that he had attempted suicide in jail three days earlier, distraught after seeing another minor sentenced to 10 years in prison.
“I only ask the president to have compassion, and to reconsider the cases of all the children,” Tovar said, referring to Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro. “It’s not just my son. There are 14 minors.”
At least 80 teenagers arrested during protests have been released from prison, including four from Carabobo, according to Foro Penal.
“None of these children are politically involved, they don’t vote,” said Dennys Benitez, who spends her days praying for the release of her 17-year-old son, Luis David Lopez. “Sadly, they were in the wrong place at the wrong time and were arbitrarily imprisoned.”
(Reporting by Reuters; Writing by Raul Cortes Fernandez; Editing by Bill Berkrot)
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