El Tiempo
March 31.- Once again, José Bodas, secretary general of the Unitary Federation of Oil Workers of Venezuela (FUTPV), urged the government to release the 126 citizens linked to the oil industry who remain in detention for “political reasons.”
Seventeen months after they were deprived of their liberty, and despite the approval of the Amnesty Law, the union leader asserts that this legislation is not protecting the country’s oil workers. “We continue to demand the release of these co-workers, who were taken from their workplaces without a court order, were not brought before a judge within the timeframes established by law, and have not yet been released”, he insisted.
Bodas stated that the detainees’ families have sought support from various institutions, including the National Assembly itself—the body that promoted the Amnesty Law—but so far they have not received a satisfactory answer.
“The families are going through an ordeal; many travel from Puerto La Cruz, Falcón, or other states to Caracas to monitor the situation of the detainees, and some have nowhere to stay overnight; others even prepare food for their detained relatives but are not allowed to deliver it. It is a horrible situation,” he emphasized.
According to the list provided by the FUTPV leader, of the 126 oil workers imprisoned for political reasons, at least 43 are from Puerto La Cruz, Anzoátegui state.
It is important to note that all are held at the Yare III Penitentiary in Miranda state since October 2024.
In closing, the FUTPV secretary general demanded that the authorities allow the reinstatement to their jobs of the more than 1,000 oil workers who have orders for their reinstatement and the payment of back wages, as well as those who were fired for political reasons following the presidential elections two years ago.
Original version in Spanish by local newspaper El Tiempo
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