Hitmen of Injustice

In the shadows of a crumbling regime, the self-proclaimed “judges” of the dictatorship in Venezuela draw their pens as if they were daggers, weaving false files with threads of lies. Their mission is sinister: to silence, crush, and imprison. They are not guardians of justice, but hired guns of oppression, mercenaries in robes executing sentences for a corrupt power. Their courtroom is a scaffold where truth is the first victim.

Merlys Oropeza, a brave voice, is the face of this infamy. On August 9, 2024, a message in a WhatsApp status, an opinion about a street chief of the PSUV, was enough for the Third Tribunal of Maturín to condemn her to a decade behind bars. What was her crime? “Incitement to hatred,” a grotesque euphemism to punish the freedom to think. Merlys, a political prisoner, is just one more in the long list of innocents sacrificed on the altar of tyranny, where a comment becomes a crime and truth becomes treason.

It is possible to list many other cases related to Venezuelan women subjected to cruel imprisonment or forced disappearances: Rocío San Miguel (2024), an activist and lawyer specializing in military matters, was detained on February 9, 2024, at Maiquetía International Airport along with her daughter and other relatives, accused of “conspiracy.” She was held incommunicado at El Helicoide, a detention center known for its brutality. Reported cruelty: for 10 days, her whereabouts were unknown, classified as a forced disappearance by Amnesty International and Provea. She endured isolation, denial of contact with lawyers and family, and unsanitary detention conditions. Her case is linked to the pre-electoral repression of 2024.

Yosida Vanegas (2023-2025), a 69-year-old mother, was arbitrarily detained on August 15, 2023, by the DGCIM while visiting her son, Juan Carlos Monasterios, a political prisoner since 2018. She was accused without a court order of unspecified crimes. With brutal cruelty, she was imprisoned under precarious conditions, without adequate access to medical care or communication with her family. Her detention is considered a retaliation for her connection to a political prisoner. Organizations like Vente Venezuela have denounced her case as emblematic of family persecution, illustrating how the regime extends repression to the families of opponents.

Carla Antón Farías (2019-2025) is a lieutenant in the Army, detained in 2019 for “instigation to rebellion.” She was imprisoned in the military prison of Ramo Verde, far from her family in Cumaná. She faced insults, deprivation of water and food, and isolation in dark cells at the DGCIM. Conditions in the military prison of Ramo Verde include overcrowding and a lack of medical care. Her case is part of a list of military women political prisoners denounced by NGOs advocating for human rights and serves as clear evidence of repression against military women with cruel treatment.

Yusimar Montilla Ortega (2019-2025) is a sergeant in the Army, who was detained while seven months pregnant in 2019 for the same reason as Carla Antón. Confined in the INOF women’s prison, she was reduced to surviving in a dirty cell with rats, incommunicado, and subjected to inhumane treatment. She was separated from her baby after childbirth and returned to prison without adequate medical care. Her health has deteriorated seriously and illustrates the disproportionate impact of repression on pregnant women and mothers.

Aidaliz Guarisma Mérida (2021-2025) is a renowned professor at the University of Los Andes, detained on August 10, 2021, by Sebin in Mérida, accused of corruption and conspiracy. Initially subjected to enforced disappearance, she was transferred without a court order to Caracas and faced precarious detention conditions in Sebin. She has encountered restrictions on visits and medical care. Her case represents the persecution of academics for political reasons.

Sofía María Sahagún Ortiz (2024), a Hispanic-Venezuelan citizen, has been missing since October 23, 2024, after passing through immigration control at Caracas airport. Her family has not received any information about her whereabouts, and Human Rights Watch classified her case as a forced disappearance. Police agents have harassed her relatives, increasing fears for her safety. Her arbitrary detention reflects the use of forced disappearances to intimidate citizens with dual nationality. Nakary Mena Ramos (2025), a journalist detained along with her husband in 2025 for reporting on the situation in Venezuela, according to complaints on X. She is considered “kidnapped” by the regime, with no clear information about her whereabouts or conditions of detention. Her case is related to the repression of independent press.

In conclusion, it is clear to everyone that these judges, accomplices of the dictatorship, do not only imprison bodies; they chain hope. They fabricate files with the precision of an executioner, but their ink cannot conceal the blood of injustice. Each sentence is a warning cry: be silent or suffer. However, in the hearts of the oppressed, resistance continues to beat. Merlys and so many others are not alone; their struggle is that of a people who, even in darkness, do not forget the face of freedom.

Let us condemn these hired guns of injustice, who dress their betrayal in legality. Let the world know that in Venezuela, justice does not judge: it sentences. And that every political prisoner is a reminder that the fight for truth does not surrender, not even in the darkest cell.