There are many reasons why Venezuelans across the globe celebrated the arrest of authoritarian ruler Nicolás Maduro by U.S. forces early Saturday morning. There’s the disaster that is the Venezuelan economy. There’s last year’s stolen election. And there’s the cruelty with which the Maduro regime crushed dissent.
In the hours after Maduro’s dramatic departure from the country, I spoke with a Venezuelan pro-democracy activist who has firsthand experience with the regime’s viciousness. Nelson Merino was detained, tortured, and forced to flee under Maduro’s regime. He is now living in exile in Spain. Merino described the conditions inside Venezuela’s torture centers, where he was held under flimsy pretexts for months on end, and he shared his thoughts on this sudden, extraordinary turn of events in his homeland.
The testimony that follows has been lightly edited for clarity and length. —Tanya Lukyanova
As told to Tanya Lukyanova.
I was an active participant throughout Venezuela’s 2024 presidential cycle, serving as an electoral coordinator in the July 28 elections and fighting to prevent Maduro from illegally seizing power. On July 30, after he claimed victory, I was detained and charged with four offenses: resisting authority, obstruction of public roads, incitement to hatred, and terrorism.
My stay in the torture center known as Tocorón, in Aragua state, lasted two months, 18 days, and 15 hours.
Inside, I lived through the greatest horror I can imagine. We were tortured. We had no access to clean drinking water and no proper food. Medical care was deficient or delayed, and our rights as citizens were trampled by the regime’s lackeys.