Venezuela: Detained activist demands key institutions join negotiations

Guillermo López, who spent over two years arbitrarily detained as a campaign chief for Comando con Venezuela, is demanding that key state institutions be part of the negotiation tables scheduled for September. Specifically, he wants the Ombudsman's Office, the Attorney General's Office, and the Comptroller's Office to be included in the discussions.

López shared his firsthand experience, stating that these institutions failed to act when they should have, effectively becoming complicit in abuses rather than protecting citizens. "I lived it firsthand: none of those three institutions acted when they should have," López asserted in an exclusive interview with El Nacional. "That's why I denounce it with knowledge of the facts, not just from legal theory. The Comptroller's Office, the Attorney General's Office, and the Ombudsman's Office failed in their constitutional duty; far from protecting the citizen, they ended up being accomplices of abuse."

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I lived it firsthand: none of those three institutions acted when they should have. That's why I denounce it with knowledge of the facts, not just from legal theory. The Comptroller's Office, the Attorney General's Office, and the Ombudsman's Office failed in their constitutional duty; far from protecting the citizen, they ended up being accomplices of abuse.

López argues that excluding these entities from the Republican Moral Council is a grave error. He contends that they have shifted from investigating abuses by judges and police to operating as mechanisms for persecution and disqualification against the opposition. He believes that restoring institutional functionality, particularly judicial autonomy, is essential before any pact can be validated. This stance comes amid ongoing protests by unions demanding better wages, transparent electoral conditions, and the release of political prisoners, with some recent releases occurring after negotiation meetings.

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In the negotiation tables, it is surprising to see how the debate on Citizen Power does not appear anywhere. The Ombudsman's Office, the Attorney General's Office, and the Comptroller's Office have gone years without fulfilling their constitutional functions.