Venezuelan Elections: Maduro government increases opposition arrests as contest nears

Earlier this year, the Venezuelan government promised "free and fair elections." But as the opposition gains force, diplomats and experts expect the contest to be rigged in favor of President Nicolas Maduro, an assumption backed by increased arrest of the government's dissidents.

Ahead of the country's elections, the Maduro regime has stepped up arrests and conspiracy claims in the contest between Maduro and retired diplomat, Edmundo Gonzalez.

Since the start of this year— and as conversations about elections took force— the contest has been plagued with questions about its transparency, which were further energized when opposition leader, Maria Corina Machado, was barred from running for presidency.

Now, with elections just days away, instances of arrests and other violations against opposition members are piling up.

A United Nations mission investigating Venezuela's rights abuses says political prisoners are asphyxiated with buckets of water, tortured with electric shock and put into stress positions, including one called the crucifixion, where they are handcuffed to metal pipes, arms spread.

That was the case of Ronald Ojeda, a 32-year-old army lieutenant who became an enemy of the Maduro government after joining other armed forces colleagues in a plot to topple the regime.

Ojeda escaped to Chile with his wife and 6-year-old, thinking that being in another country would grant him safety. Nevertheless on Feb. 21, three masked men wearing Chilean police uniforms burst into their 14th floor apartment around 3 a.m.

The men took Ojeda out of his apartment, while holding a gun to the wife's head. That was the last time the couple saw each other. Few days later, on a tip, investigators found Ojeda's body, stuffed into a suitcase buried under more than 4 feet of concrete in a nearby shantytown, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Hector Barros, the prosecutor in charge of the case, says the murder was ordered by Venezuela. "The crime is basically associated with the political profile of the victim," he said. But Venezuelan officials continue to deny these allegations.

Ojeda's is not an isolated case. Criminal gangs with ties to the Maduro government are kidnapping and killing regime opponents at home and abroad, The Wall Street Journal reports. Opposition figures and officials in other countries allege Maduro's tactics echo those used by former Chilean leader Augusto Pinochet to eliminate his political enemies abroad in the 1970s.

In fact, Chilean investigators suspect members of Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan criminal gang, was behind Ojeda's murder. The group, which was founded in a Venezuelan prison, has spread across the Americas in the Venezuelan refugee migration, possibly as far north as the U.S. These gang members can provide Maduro allies services to kill or capture the autocrat's go far beyond Venezuela's borders, according to the Journal.

The report comes as other media outlets reveal further arrests by those who oppose the government. For example, members of the armed forces make up about half of the 301 Maduro opponents currently imprisoned and classified as political prisoners, The Associated Press reports.

Internationally, other countries like the U.S., have nudged the regime toward free and fair elections. But as Maduro continues to respond with more arrests, hope remains low for a transition of government.