Toothpaste, deodorant, toothbrush, blue soap and bath soap, four rolls of toilet paper, a package of cookies in their original packaging and a bar of chocolate, this is the only thing that women who go to visit the detainees in the post-election context can bring into the Aragua Penitentiary Center, known as Tocorón.
By Pableysa Ostos | Corresponsalía lapatilla.com
This November 11th, 2024, visits were allowed. “Since last week they started calling from the penitentiary and asked for basic supplies, mostly for personal hygiene. The boys were also given a (chance to) call and they contacted all their relatives, telling them to bring them bread, to bring them cookies, many things because they are dying of hunger,” said a relative who prefers to remain anonymous for security reasons.
During the call, the young men allegedly said that they had not eaten that day since 7:00 in the morning when they were given breakfast. “It was 7:00 at night and they had not had lunch, much less dinner.”
“They are desperate, there are many sick people, there is a boy who says that he can no longer tolerate food, that he is too sick, he could not go to the bathroom. These boys are dying of hunger. They do not know what to do anymore. They say that they want to get out of there, that they can no longer stand it. So we here outside desperately ask, we ask to speak with the director of the penitentiary center and that director does not show his face, he just sends and tells us a lot of things (nonsense),” added the relatives.
They say that many of the young people have pathologies and their relatives have not been able to see them. “We demand that the director of the Aragua Penitentiary Center show his face, that he be more humane, more empathetic, that he show solidarity with the people who are going through this need, because he says he is a son of God, he says he is a Christian, fearful of God, and he does the opposite. In other words, he does not care, he does not care about all the catastrophe that is happening, even though he is the director of that prison.”
They point out that about 15 days ago they allowed the entry of other supplies, such as bread, cauliflowers, etc., but they were not delivered to the detainees. “He (the director) let them rot, he took them from the relatives and threw them in a warehouse and said that if they wanted them to take them.”
They warn that “they are going to die in there, dehydrated. They now ask us for medicines with a doctor’s prescription, because we were giving them serum and they tell us that they hardly drink water, we were giving them Ensure, because there are some who are malnourished and now they don’t want to allow us that or the vitamins that we want to give them so that they at least get antibodies, but nothing.”
Requests for help
“So they should give us back our boys and we will feed them, hydrate them at our house, take them to the doctor because there are many injured people there. When they made the arbitrary arrests, all that, there are many injured with broken ribs, there are people who have injured knees, bruises, all those things and nobody is treating them for those things,” the relatives denounced.
They admit that since the arrests they have lived in fear. “We no longer have a place to sleep, or a place to spend the night. Many people stay in the square, borrowing, going into debt, selling everything they have to be able to get to the penitentiary center, visit their relatives, bring them what they need. It is detestable everything that is happening, that they do not even receive us, they do not even see the sacrifice that we make, at least, to take the boys a supplement and they do not let it pass.”