CARACAS (Reuters) – At least 40 teenagers have been released from prison over the weekend in Venezuela, according to a human rights group, after being arrested during anti-government protests following Venezuela’s disputed presidential election in late July.
Venezuela’s electoral council and its top court have proclaimed President Nicolas Maduro, in power since 2013, as the winner of the July 28 election, but has not published complete voting tallies. Venezuela’s opposition has published its own tallies showing a landslide win for its candidate, Edmundo Gonzalez.
The post-election street protests left some 27 people dead and 2,400 more arrested. The Venezuelan government has blamed the opposition for the deaths, while opponents accuse the government of carrying out a campaign of repression.
Alfredo Romero, the president of the non-government human rights organization Foro Penal, wrote on X on Saturday that at least 40 teenagers arrested during the protests had been released from prison in the states of Tachira, Merida, Amazonas, Bolivar and Lara.
Venezuelan authorities did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Diego Oré and Mayela Armas; Writing by Laura Gottesdiener; Editing by Mark Porter)
