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Venezuelan Photojournalist Released After 16 Months in Military Prison

Pete Cobus

   WASHINGTON - Venezuelan photojournalist Jesus Medina was released late
   Monday from a military prison southwest of Caracas following 16 months
   in detention, according to Venezuela-based rights organization Foro
   Penal.

   Medina, a photographer for the Florida-registered black market dollar
   website [1]Dolar Today, was arrested in late August 2018 on charges of
   inciting hate and criminal association while producing an investigative
   project about a Caracas hospital.

   He was released from Ramo Verde military prison late Monday along with
   at least seven other inmates, including Carlos Marron, the one-time
   owner of another U.S. based site that tracks Venezuelan bolivar
   exchange rates.

   Marron had been held since April 2018 on charges of financial terrorism
   and promoting currency speculation.

   The administration of President Nicolas Maduro maintains tight control
   over the legal exchange of bolivars, using a complicated three-tier
   system that is meant to subsidize crucial imports, but also has led to
   widespread corruption and speculation.

   Privately operated exchange-tracking sites like Dolar Today, which have
   drawn the ire of Maduro, also have become platforms for supporting
   opposition leader Juan Guaido and his National Assembly backers.

   Medina's release followed negotiations between Maduro's ruling
   Socialists and minority parties. Those talks occurred just one day
   after riot [2]police blocked Guaido from entering the assembly chamber
   for what was expected to be his re-election as head of the
   opposition-dominated legislature.

   With Guaido blocked, former opposition ally Luis Parra declared himself
   assembly leader with the support of 81 lawmakers, a tally rejected by
   the majority opposition, which hastily organized another vote at a
   separate location. They claim that vote netted Guaido 100 of the
   chamber's 167 votes.

References

   1. https://dolartoday.com/
   2. file://localhost/tmp/lynxXXXX-ZacMa/www.voanews.com/americas/venezuelas-guaido-and-rival-lawmaker-call-competing-legislative-sessions

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