Como pueden ver, eso que llaman "la comunidad internacional" descubre la crueldad del chavismo, que se niega a liberar a los presos políticos mientras manipula con las cifras, y aún así le tienen más miedo a la dictadura que los miles de familiares directos que están reclamando.

Otra complejidad de los presos políticos en Venezuela es que no son presos "del gobierno", sino que son presos de cada una de las tribus que se reparten el poder. Un buen número de miembros del chavismo tiene sus propios presos políticos. Es común que entre presos y liberados la gente se pregunte: "¿Y quién era tu carcelero? ¿Tú estás preso por quién? ¿Quién es el que te tenía jodido a ti?". Les sorprenderían la cantidad de funcionarios que tienen licencia para encarcelar y extorsionar civiles, militares y extranjeros. Cada brazo del poder, cada grupo, tiene sus propios jueces, sus fiscales, sus grupos represores y sus cárceles. Por lo tanto también tiene sus presos. Son su mercancía. Son su producto renovable, por eso es que apresan a unos, los extorsionan, los descapitalizan, y luego encarcelan a otros y así van. Es una maquinaria que les produce ganancias económicas, políticas y hasta diplomáticas, porque con los reos presionan. En muchas ocasiones las liberaciones se complican porque no está claro con quién hay que hablar en realidad, porque unos carceleros no se meten en los presos de los demás. A veces tienen que negociar entre ellos, pero no todos pueden meterse con los rehenes de sus camaradas. Es una negociación interna. El sábado con la detención de Maduro y Cilia (que controlaba mucho más que él al poder judicial), el reparto de poder en Venezuela se ha transformado. Los Rodríguez traicionaron a Maduro y Cilia, aún no se sabe cómo quedan otros miembros de la coalición, así que hay un lote de jueces y fiscales que quedan huérfanos y también un grupo de presos políticos que pudiesen ser liberados para dar buena prensa y distender el momento. El poder va buscando sus propios equilibrios y puede prescindir de ciertos funcionarios y también de unos presos. Pero por los momentos no hay un compromiso firme de liberación sin condiciones ni discriminación de todos los presos políticos. Digamos que por el momento el chavismo hace gestión de crisis y vive un proceso controlado. Anuncian una acción suficiente como para calmar la exigiencia internacional de sus nuevos jefes, pero no terminan de desmontar el aparato represivo y de miedo que controla y atemoriza a la población. Ese cambio aún no lo hemos visto, pero trabajamos para que ocurra lo antes posible. Así se aligera realmente el sufrimiento de víctimas, familiares, amigos y todos los que son solidarios con la causa de los presos políticos venezolanos. Los necesitamos libres a todos.

What is happening in Venezuela? To my English speaking friends Paola Romero. Philosopher. / 6 January 2026 [First: thank you for taking an interest in Venezuela, and for having a personal concern for me for my family. My relatives back home are safe.] For 26 years, Venezuelans have exhausted all democratic and non-violent means to oust the Maduro regime. I cannot hammer this enough. It is from this struggle that we are judging current affairs. And personally, I judge what is happening thinking of my friend Jesus, my university Professor Rocio, and many others I’ve met along the way, how are in prison and have been isolated for more than a year. In short, as I write this, I don’t know if they are alive or dead. In this sense, the extraction of Maduro is something we celebrate, like drinking a bitter drink: we knew and know that an American-led extraction would bring new, unforeseen problems, but we also knew that we were unable to bring down a dictatorship without force. This is the crux of our conundrum, our source of celebration and worry. Our existential contradiction. The oil The idea that the US “is only in for the oil” should be unpacked. Yes, Trump is carving a new world order, on the assumption that America has to recover and oversee control over the Hemisphere. Yet, the idea that Venezuela was an independent, sovereign country, and that the Americans are coming in to take what is ours is WRONG: Venezuela has been invaded and controlled by foreign interests for two decades. China is the major beneficiary of our oil and most importantly our rare earth minerals. The latter are basic for the AI race. Cuba infiltrated our military, so true that 32 Cuban soldiers died in the Maduro extraction operation - he could only trust them. When the US says that they are going to get back the oil Venezuela took from them, they are referring to the debt Venezuela has to American oil companies, due to the mismanagement on the part of ‘chavismo ‘ of the oil industry. The idea that we are little lambs and the wolf is coming to take what is ours is wrong: it was Chavez, and then Maduro and his followers ,who are responsible for looting of our national reserves. Does this mean Americans won’t do the same? That’s to be seen Before the catastrophic collapse of our oil industry, American paid well, timely and in cash. That paid for the public university I went to, the roads we transit and the preferential oil-dollars that paid for my Masters. We are the result of those golden years of high oil prices. In short, there is nothing morally wrong or politically evil in the fact that we have, and will keep living from selling our oil to the world. The problem is that chavismo, having for a decade the highest ever oil revenues in our modern history, decided to put it in their pockets. The difference this time, we hope, is that the revenue of that public good will be managed by COMPETENT people and under the RULE OF LAW. This is the crux that the extraction of Maduro and a chavismo-led transition presents. Are we heading, step by step, to a more stable and legitimate political system? I cannot answer that right now. Can good governance, ran by VENEZUELANS and a competitive oil industry, with strong ties to the US, be achieved? The “transition” This leads me to the ongoing, minute by minute development of the so called “transition”. The US has bet on giving chavismo a “chance”, after the extraction of Maduro. There was no way Maria Corina Machado, our leader in hiding and now in exile, could take the reins during this uncertain, fraught and unprecedented period. Venezuela is a mafia state, ruled by the military. Maria Corina, in my opinion, does not have sufficient influence or contact with the illegitimate structures of the regime. That doesn’t make her weak: quite the opposite! It’s been her uncompromising leadership and relentless condemnation of the dictatorship that won her the hearts and votes of Venezuelans. But our votes and the democratic will of the people do not seem to be a currency with enough value to secure us a place in the negotiating table taking place right now. Our present tragedy is that, for the time being, we Venezuelans, the civil society, the democratic opposition, have been left out of the political fight between the two powers, the US and the de facto regime. Partly because our political leaders are either in prison, in hiding or in exile. Partly because the US wanted to guarantee there wouldn’t be military coups following the extraction (for that, they needed to keep parts of the regime in place), partly because Trump personally doesn’t trust the opposition at this very moment and given the high stakes, to be capable of governing. The political value of venezuela’s civil society longing for good governance is a “weak” currency in the table of real politik. Am I angry? Yes. Does this mean we will never seat on the table? No. Our democratic currency might gain value along the way. Americans need stability domestically to further their economic interest. That’s when we might be useful. Real politik In this sense, the Americans are playing real politic, and has assumed those in power as the ones who hold the de facto reigns. This, I think, is a good thing: if Maria Corina was placed in the spotlight to lead the transition, we would have to deal with the “she’s a puppet of Trump” narrative, which would have done huge damage to her. I personally think that it’s better she’s still in hiding. Delcy Rodirguez, Maduro’s vice president (and a fervent communist), in less than 48 hours has gone from saying they will defend Maduro and fight against `American imperialism’, to saying that they want to cooperate in good faith with the US. Will they stay for long? Will the chavismo of the transition abide to the requirement of the US? Can their long-held anti imperialism and hated to the US be redressed? They are evil, astute, immoral. But they have an Aquiles heal: they’re ideological and resentful. So I have an instinct, a hunch, that they will not behave as the Americans want them to. In short, talk of regime change, interventionism, sovereignty, etc seem to me to be old, pre Trump vocabulary that needs to be reinvented to properly understand and analyse what is going on in Venezuela. We are facing an unprecedented situation, that will possibly repeat itself in other parts of this new geo political order that is unfolding. In this sense, Venezuela is a micro experiment and a central piece in the world of powers that are after resources (mainly minerals) in the world of data centres, AI, energy independence and drone warfare. Do I like that world? Do I fear it? That’s nor here nor there. What amazes me is how many people are suddenly very offended and concerned about what is happening in Venezuela, but who never worried about our political prisoners, the loss of our political rights, the looting from the part of chavismo, the days without electricity and the hunger Venezuelans faced in the last 15 years. Why so worried now? We are sadden to see how the Trump hate is bigger and so powerful that overrides the real worry: that Venezuelans have been fighting for their freedom for years, alone, without arms, without resources. What’s next? Am I worried? I am cautiously optimistic. I don’t care if America has good intentions regarding Venezuela: they have economics and political interest. That doesn’t mean that our interests cannot align with theirs. The US needs some minimal political stability in Venezuela to guarantee its own economics plans. Those minimal conditions (rule of law, competitive markets, the recovery of the oil industry, etc) are, from the point of view of Venezuelans, conditions we haven’t had and have longed for for 25 years. The issue, for us, is not “they are going to take our oil”: our oil has already been taken, misused, and the industry destroyed. The issue for us is recovering a minimal set of constitutional rights and to be able to participate and I am sure win!) elections that will lead to our political participation in leading the country: to finally have a go! This will have a cost.