Venezuela's Maduro repurposes two prisons to hold protesters while AG speaks of 'cleansing society'

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has announced plans to repurpose two existing prisons to incarcerate the more than 1,200 people who were arrested during protests against the government's decision to claim victory in the elections despite a lack of backing documents..

"I am preparing two prisons, which I must have ready in 15 days, they were already being prepared (Tocorón and Tocuyito), and all the guarimberos (violent protesters) will go to these prisons."

According to Maduro, both prisons, which are located in the northern states of Aragua and Carabobo, will be used to house "all the new generation gangs involved in the guarimbas (as Chavismo calls the anti-government protests) and criminal attacks."

"There will be no forgiveness or leniency within the framework of the Constitution and the laws", Maduro added.

He finally alluded to the dictatorship of Marco Pérez Jiménez (1952-1958), which implemented a work plan for inmates:

"We are going to place a bet to see if these maximum-security prisons can achieve reeducation and turn them into productive farms, that (the prisoners) come to produce, that they come to work, as they did in that era."

Venezuela's Attorney General says detentions will "cleanse society"

A day after saying that protesters in Venezuela are using ketchup to simulate blood, Attorney General Tarek William Saab launched a new string of bombshell statements in his Thursday news conference. Most of them had to do with Freddy Superlano, an opposition member who was forcibly detained on Tuesday.

"Our team has seen him, he's in good health", Saab said. "He's cooperating. Those who understand law will understand what I mean. He's admitting to several thing that we've been narrating so far."

At one point in the press conference, Saab gave his opinion about the effect detentions are having on the Venezuelan society:

"Moments like this one are actually good because they cleanse society, they show who are the ones with this sick mentality and who are the ones who don't want any of this."

As in his previous press conferences, Saab made no mention of the people who have died during the protests, a number that currently sits at 11, according to NGO Foro Penal. The organization was also tallied 711 arrests in that time frame, 74 of whom are teenagers.