Bogota, Colombia – Jesus Medina Ezaine had already spent 16 months in a Venezuelan military prison and was charged with crimes he said were related to his work as a photojournalist.
But another stint in prison seemed imminent, especially after the controversial re-election of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
With Maduro set to be sworn in for a third term, Medina, 43, made a difficult decision: flee his native Venezuela for the relative safety of Bogota, the capital of neighboring Colombia.
“Before they could put me back in prison, I decided to escape,” Medina said.
Maduro’s government has long been criticized for its alleged repression of political rivals. But Friday’s inauguration ceremony is likely to bring the latest electoral crisis to its climax. Observers warn that violence could escalate as Maduro tries to hold on to power.
“The regime will do everything it can to ensure that Maduro can be reinstated into office and that he can continue his government,” said Juan Pappier, deputy director of the Americas division at Human Rights Watch.
“If they see this possibility being challenged in any way, for example through (opposition-led) demonstrations, they will brutally repress it.”
A climate of fear
Medina remembers his last months in Venezuela being filled with fear.
In the run-up to the controversial election, he joined opposition leader Maria Corina Machado’s election campaign as a photographer and documented her efforts to win support for presidential candidate Edmundo Gonzalez.
But this work made him a target again.
Medina was no stranger to the Maduro government: in 2018 he was arrested on charges of money laundering, criminal organization and incitement to hatred, all of which he denies.
Instead, he claims his arrest was in retaliation for his reporting on human rights abuses. Until January 2020, he was held without trial in the Ramo Verde military prison.
“The Venezuelan regime does not tolerate any comments or information against them,” he said.
“The media is scared,” Medina added. “Freedom of expression in Venezuela has been completely lost because journalists in Venezuela are doing everything they can to avoid imprisonment.”
But the presidential election on July 28, 2024 brought with it worse political repression than Medina had previously experienced.
Hours after polls closed, the National Electoral Council declared Maduro the winner without offering the usual breakdown of the election results.
Meanwhile, the opposition released voting records that instead suggested that Gonzalez had won the election with nearly 70 percent of the vote. When protests erupted over alleged election fraud, the government cracked down.
As state forces searched the streets for protesters and arrested dissidents from their homes, Medina said he was told he would be sent back to prison.
He quickly hid. Medina spent two months hiding in various locations in the capital, Caracas, to avoid arrest. He said the country’s intelligence services had already knocked on the door of his home in the city.
Feeling cornered, Medina decided to flee to Bogotá on September 15, where he has remained ever since.
A wave of oppression
According to government statistics, up to 2,500 people were ultimately arrested in the post-election protests.
Another 25 people were killed in what independent United Nations investigators called “unprecedented violence.”
A UN fact-finding mission said earlier this month that at least 56 political opponents, 10 journalists and a human rights defender were arrested between August and December.
On Tuesday, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights also released a report in which it accused systematic state repression intended to “prevent the political participation of the opposition” and “sow terror among citizens.”
But in the run-up to Friday’s inauguration, more than 1,500 prisoners who had been held in the post-election broadcast were released. Critics say this could be an attempt to limit scrutiny of the government’s human rights record.
Alfredo Romero, the director of Foro Penal, a Venezuelan human rights organization, said that “having a number of innocent youths with their relatives, especially their mothers, at the door of prisons” reflected badly on the Maduro government Hold vigils.
Human rights groups have also questioned the accuracy of the government’s figures.
Romero said at least 1,749 prisoners remained in custody as of the first week of January and more suspected dissidents had been arrested since then.
“People can be released from prison, but that doesn’t mean new ones won’t be incarcerated,” he said.
Backlash at the inauguration
Despite widespread fears of repression, demonstrations are expected on the day of Maduro’s third inauguration.
Gonzalez, the opposition presidential candidate, has also pledged to return to Venezuela from his exile abroad and will be sworn in on Friday. It is unclear how and whether he will keep this promise.
In a video message posted on social media on Sunday, Machado, who has been in hiding in Venezuela for months, called on Venezuelans to march this week in support of a transition of power.
“Maduro will not go alone, we must let him go with the strength of a population that never gives up,” Machado said. “It’s time to stand firm and make it clear to them that this is not going to get them anywhere. That it’s over.”
In return, the Maduro government has increased security measures and deployed more than 1,200 military personnel to cities across the country to “guarantee peace” on Inauguration Day.
The government has also arrested more than 12 human rights defenders, political activists and relatives of opposition figures in recent days, according to Amnesty International, a human rights organization.
Gonzalez’s son-in-law, Rafael Tudares, is said to be among those arrested: The presidential candidate said Tudares was kidnapped by masked men in Caracas on Tuesday.
And on Thursday, Machado herself was arrested as she left an anti-Maduro demonstration when opposition figures said her vehicle was shot at. She was quickly released.
An uncertain future
The recent arrests have led to a new wave of international condemnation.
The U.S. Embassy in Venezuela called the detention of Gonzalez’s son-in-law an act of “intimidation” against the opposition. Colombian President Gustavo Petro said the arrests prevented him from attending Maduro’s inauguration on Friday.
According to the latest Inter-American Commission on Human Rights report, Maduro’s control over state institutions has nevertheless allowed security forces to operate with impunity.
Medina himself believes that repression in Venezuela could escalate if Maduro remains in power for a third term.
“If we don’t gain freedom, there will be a lot more persecution,” Medina said. “They will seek to put an end to everything they see as opposition, including political leaders and the media.”
He added that for now he hopes to continue his work exposing human rights abuses from abroad.
“I have decided that no matter what happens, I will fight for my country.”
