Seventy-one 'arbitrary detentions' have been reported in Venezuela within days of the start of campaigning for the presidential election, according to a human rights NGO. A report by Laboratorio de Paz revealed that 48 of those detentions involved individuals who had provided services to the campaign command of opposition candidate Edmundo González Urrutia of the Democratic Unitary Platform. The arrests occurred between July 4 and 14, with most taking place in the state of Táchira. The NGO also documented 26 cases of harassment, 11 obstructions to free movement, two closures of premises, and three raids.
The NGO highlighted that these figures are part of a 'recurring pattern' of Venezuelans being targeted for political reasons at the national level. Concerns were raised that such actions would escalate as the election approached. Critics of President Nicolas Maduro's government have accused it of rigging votes and suppressing the opposition. The 2018 election that saw Maduro return to office was deemed illegitimate by an alliance of 14 Latin American nations, Canada, and the United States.
