The arrest of Rocío San Miguel fuels tensions between Venezuela and the international community

First modification: 02/14/2024 – 01:56

4 min

Another case that could further raise tension between the United States and Venezuela. This Tuesday, the White House referred in a press conference to the arrest of the director of the NGO Citizen Control, Rocío San Miguel, and the alleged disappearance of her daughter.

“We are watching this very, very closely. The United States is aware and deeply concerned.” These were the statements of John Kirby, White House national security spokesman.

Rocío San Miguel, recognized for her human rights activism and for her criticism of the Chavista governments, was detained on Friday, February 9, at the Maiquetía international airport, near the capital, Caracas, according to defense and lawyer groups.

The arrest was confirmed by Venezuela's Attorney General, Tarek William Saab, two days after the arrest. In the statement, Saab reported that the cause is an alleged “conspiracy” against President Nicolás Maduro.

Saab affirmed that the arrest is in accordance with the law and is part of an ongoing investigation that involves more Venezuelan citizens in the plot known as 'White Bracelet'.

However, the arrest was widely condemned on social media by opposition politicians and more than 200 human rights groups such as Amnesty International, which demanded his immediate release.

Daughter of Rocío San Miguel allegedly missing

On Monday another fact was added that was denounced by Juan González, one of the activist's lawyers. Apparently Rocío San Miguel's daughter would also be missing. The two were at the airport to travel to Miami for vacation.

San Miguel's legal team requested information from security officials but neither the attorney general's office nor the Ministry of Communication responded to requests for comment, according to González.

The Venezuelan authorities reportedly informed a relative of Rocío San Miguel that both San Miguel and her daughter were transferred to a detention center of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence of Venezuela. However, this information could not be confirmed.

If true, it would also imply a risk to the integrity of the activist and her daughter. UN human rights experts have documented the existence of torture rooms in the detention centers of the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence of Venezuela.

Rocío San Miguel and her daughter have dual citizenship of Venezuela and Spain, so the family said they hope that the Spanish consulate in Caracas will intervene in the case.

Judicial case against activist Rocío San Miguel

On Monday, a first hearing in the 'White Bracelet' case took place late at night in which Rocío San Miguel and five other Venezuelan citizens also allegedly involved in the conspiracy participated, according to the Venezuelan Government.

Faced with criticism from human rights organizations and the United States, the Venezuelan prosecutor responded with a public complaint.

“We denounce a fierce campaign from abroad against the Justice System and the Venezuelan State by the same sectors that have always despised the Venezuelan democratic institutions and have at the same time supported the assassination attempts and coups d'état against Venezuela orchestrated from the imperial powers of the West.

Why does the arrest of Rocío San Miguel worry the international community?

Rocío San Miguel, an expert on security, defense and human rights issues, is president of the non-governmental organization Control Ciudadano, which advocates for citizen oversight of Venezuela's armed forces. Therefore, many of her reports focused on corruption within the military wing.

San Miguel has been critical of the government of President Nicolás Maduro, as well as Hugo Chávez, founder of the Bolivarian Revolution. San Miguel denounced that he is a victim of political persecution due to his opposition to the Chavista governments and especially for having supported the call for a recall referendum against Chávez at the beginning of the century.

Rocío San Miguel appeared on the so-called Tascón List, by Chavista deputy Luis Tascón, who was in charge of publishing the names of the Venezuelans who requested a recall against Chávez, many of them persecuted and fired from their jobs.

Due to the Tascón case, San Miguel won a lawsuit against Venezuela in 2018 before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IAC Court) for the violation of political and expression rights.

San Miguel's arrest comes weeks after the United States government threatened to reinstate economic sanctions against Venezuela following Nicolás Maduro's lack of commitment to holding elections in the second half of 2024.

Lifting the prohibitions that prevented adversaries from holding public office, as in the case of María Corina Machado, is one of the unfulfilled promises by Maduro and is part of the Barbados agreement, signed between representatives of the Venezuelan Government and a faction of the opposition.

The Biden administration, through a tweet from its Venezuelan Affairs Unit based in neighboring Colombia, said Monday that the San Miguel case “continues a worrying trend of seemingly arbitrary arrests of democratic actors” and urged Maduro to comply. with their commitments.

With Reuters, AP and local media