New York Times: Venezuela Secretly Detains Hundreds to Silence Critics

A new report from Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights and Foro Penal details how enforced disappearances are playing a critical role in the Venezuelan government’s increasingly authoritarian efforts to control its population, discourage dissent, and punish opponents.

The report, offered exclusively to the New York Times, documents 200 such cases in 2018 and 524 the following year, a jump it attributed to increased protests as Venezuela endured successive political and economic crises, and the government’s repressive responses.

The report adds to a growing body of evidence of human rights violations committed by President Nicolás Maduro and his allies, including widespread reports of torture and an assessment by the United Nations that Venezuelan security forces have committed thousands of extrajudicial killings.

Read the full article.