Mother of Venezuelan Coup Plotters Detained Arbitrarily.

5 hours ago7 min read

In a distressing development from Medellín, Colombia, family members report the arbitrary detention of Merys Perfecta Torres de Sequea, a 71-year-old mother whose three sons—former Bolivian National Guard soldiers Maj. Juvenal Sequea Torres and his brothers—were implicated in the failed attempts to oust Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in 2019 and 2020.This act, described by relatives as a blatant retaliation, underscores the Maduro regime's notorious strategy of targeting dissidents' families to instill fear and suppress opposition, a tactic chillingly reminiscent of historical authoritarian crackdowns. The sons, once part of a daring plot involving a rogue faction aiming to capture Maduro, now live in exile, their mother becoming a pawn in a broader geopolitical struggle that stretches from Caracas to international human rights forums.Venezuela's judiciary, widely criticized for its lack of independence, has a documented history of such arbitrary detentions, with organizations like Human Rights Watch and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights repeatedly highlighting cases where relatives are held without due process as leverage against activists or perceived enemies of the state. This incident not only exacerbates the humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, where millions have fled economic collapse and political repression, but also raises alarms about the erosion of basic liberties under Maduro's rule, which has tightened its grip despite international sanctions and diplomatic isolation.Experts note that targeting family members is a calculated move to demoralize opposition forces abroad, as seen in other regimes where kinship ties are weaponized to control dissent. The emotional toll on the Sequea family is immeasurable; they describe Merys as a frail elderly woman with no political involvement, now caught in a web of retribution that highlights the personal costs of Venezuela's protracted political warfare. As global attention wanes amid other crises, this case serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing human rights abuses that continue to unfold, demanding urgent scrutiny from international bodies to prevent further normalization of such tactics in a region already grappling with instability.

#Venezuela

#Maduro

#arbitrary detention

#coup attempt

#political prisoner

#human rights

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