A court in Caracas on Wednesday sentenced Lusodescendant Carla da Silva to 21 years in prison, along with 28 other people, both military and civilian, for plotting to overthrow the Venezuelan government.

The court's sentence was handed down after a hearing lasting more than 15 hours, in which they were charged with the crimes of treason, conspiracy, rebellion, trafficking in weapons of war, association to commit crimes and financing terrorism.

Twenty of the defendants were sentenced to 30 years in prison and nine others, including 40-year-old Carla da Silva, to 21 years in prison for allegedly taking part in "Operación Gedeón", also known as "Macutazo", on May 3, 2020.

This failed maritime incursion by exiled ex-military personnel tried, with the support of a former member of the US special forces, to infiltrate the country and train Venezuelans to overthrow the government of President Nicolás Maduro, in an operation during which six dissidents died.

Tied up and tortured
According to the Venezuelan press, Carla da Silva was arrested on May 5, 2020, during a children's party in a social housing estate in Caracas.

Everything seemed to be going well, until Carla told the hostess of the party that she knew someone in the government involved in the maritime incursion aimed at overthrowing the Executive.

The hostess's reaction was the worst: she said she would call the director of the Special Action Forces (FAES) to tell him everything.

The Portuguese-Venezuelan was taken directly from the party by FAES officials to La Quebradita (west of Caracas), where she was interrogated and prevented from returning home. It wasn't until 20 days later that her relatives found out that Carla da Silva had been arrested and where she was.

According to the Efecto Cocuyo news portal, Carla da Silva, who has a degree in administration and a master's degree in management, was tortured for two days, tied up and had a plastic bag put over her head while she was beaten.

The Lusodescendant's cell phone was inspected and she was subjected to a polygraph test.

"There's an empty seat at the table"
Carla da Silva's mother, Miriam Marrero, was never told anything. She was expecting her daughter home that night, but she never arrived. Around 10pm, she started looking for her everywhere.

At the political police station, an official pushed her, pointed a gun at her and told her not to come back.

In a video posted on the Internet, Alfredo Romero said that the Portuguese-Venezuelan woman was being held by the Bolivarian Intelligence Service, the Caracas regime's information services.

In the same video, the philosophy teacher argued that her daughter "is a political prisoner, kidnapped by the regime".

"In my house there's an empty place at the table, in bed, and when I wake up in the morning I can't say good morning to my daughter, or give her a blessing, because she's been kidnapped, tortured," said Marrero, adding that Carla da Silva reported being tortured by three Special Action Forces (FAES) officers.

NGOs call for release of political prisoner
The court's decision was confirmed by lawyer Alonso Medina Roda, from the non-governmental organization (NGO) Coalition for Human Rights, via the social network X (formerly Twitter).

In October, another Venezuelan NGO, Foro Penal (FP), asked the authorities to release young Carla da Silva, who had been held in pre-trial detention for more than three years.

"Carla da Silva is one of the political prisoners in Venezuela. She was arbitrarily detained on May 5, 2020, and is in 'El Helicoide' [prison in Caracas], a place that is well known because several political prisoners are there (...). According to our law, she should be free, because no one can be deprived of their liberty for more than three years," explained the FP director.

The latest figures released by the FP show that there are 274 people imprisoned for political reasons in Venezuela, of whom 252 are men and 22 women, 127 civilians and 147 military personnel.

Also according to the PF, 15,831 arrests for political reasons have been recorded in Venezuela, where more than 9,000 people "continue to be arbitrarily subjected to measures restricting their freedom".