More than 30 Venezuelan military members accused of rebellion and treason started a hunger strike three days ago in the country's main military prison, demanding its release, according to information released by strikers and family members.
© Reuters
12/11/2026
by
Lusa
Mais of 30 military members accused of rebellion and treason have been on hunger strike for three days in Venezuela's main military prison, demanding its release, today the strikers and their families released.
The military, among them two women, began the hunger strike on Monday to claim their release from prison through an amnesty.
Family members and lawyers denounced violations of the right to a fair trial at a demonstration held in front of Ramo Verde prison near Caracas.
The inmates went up to a prison fence to shout slogans, encouraged by family members gathered outside the establishment.
On the grid surrounding the prison, two tracks were hung with the messages “Freedom, now!”. and “political prisoners”, written in blue letters.
“We are not afraid, enough torture”, “Freedom!”, the military shouted, isolated in a prison yard.
According to Sandra Hernández, wife of Sergeant Luis Bandres, the group that started the hunger strike early on Monday is composed of about 20 military members accused of revolting against former President Nicolás Maduro.
Other inmates, who respond to cases related to alleged conspiracy against Maduro, later joined the movement, totaling 36 military members, according to the Committee for the Freedom of Political Prisoners.
The inmates who initiated the strike belong to a group of 24 military personnel accused of stealing weapons from a military post before entering a barracks in Caracas in 2019.
These events occurred during the crisis caused by the first re-election of Nicolás Maduro in 2018, considered fraudulent by the opposition.
“They only have limited access to the tower where the bathrooms are,” Hernández denounced to the agency France-Presse (AFP), also denouncing that they no longer have access to drinking water.
Hernández explained that they have been hydrating with water used by prison officials to water the plants.
Lack of access to water and medical care is a “mean of pressure to end the strike”, highlighted Milagros Astudillos, wife of a arrested sergeant.
More than a thousand political prisoners have been released since February under an amnesty law enacted by interim President Delcy Rodríguez.
According to the NGO Criminal Forum, more than 300 still remain in prison.