'How long?': Day Three of hunger strike for Venezuelan political prisoners' release

Reclining on mattresses outside the "Zona 7" prison in Caracas, some are starting to doubt if the interim regime left over after Nicolas Maduro's ouster in a US military strike last month intends to keep its word on freeing hundreds of government detractors.

Inside Zona 7, about 60 inmates remain, along with hundreds more countrywide for whose release family members have been clamoring for weeks.

The Foro Penal rights NGO says 444 political prisoners have been freed since Maduro's toppling. More than 600 remain behind bars.

"How long? How long are they going to leave us like this?" asked Evelin Quiaro, 46, lying feebly on her back with a small bottle of electrolyte water within reach. She hadn't eaten solid food in over two days.

Quiaro's son has been imprisoned since November, accused of taking part in a bomb attack Maduro's security services claim to have foiled.

He is one of hundreds, perhaps thousands, Venezuelans jailed in recent years over plots, real or imagined, to overthrow the regime.

Five days after Maduro's toppling on January 3, an interim government led by Delcy Rodriguez -- formerly his vice president -- vowed under pressure from Washington to free all political prisoners.

But Rodriguez and the rest of what remains of the regime are staunch Maduro acolytes, and some Venezuelans distrust their intentions.

"We’ve been here for a very long time, since January 8 for most of us, sleeping under tents, living here in an inhuman way. We’re at our limit," Quiaro told AFP.

Venezuela's congress is considering a law that is meant to grant amnesty to political detainees, but several postponements -- the most recent last Thursday -- prompted the hunger strike.
'This is not a game!'
Rafael Arreaza, a prominent Venezuelan doctor volunteering help to the "Zona 7" families, says fasting is dangerous, especially in the kinds of conditions in which the hunger strikers find themselves: out in the open, breathing in dust and pollution.

"Immunity drops and health complications can occur very easily," he told AFP.

Quiaro said she was, indeed, already starting to feel weak.

But, she added: "It’s worth it, it will always be worth it! This has to have an effect. This is not a game!"

Another of the protesters, Narwin Gil, stopped a policeman from entering the prison with his lunchbox.

"You can’t go in with food. If they (the prisoners) aren’t eating, neither are you,” she shouted. The officer did not insist, and turned back.

The doctor, Arreaza, said he had been denied permission to go inside to check on the prisoners, and it was not clear whether any of them were also on hunger strike.

Maria Escalona, 41, whose husband has been detained since September, also spoke from a mattress outside the prison.

"My little ones (eight and nine) are suffering because they’re not with their father. It’s stressful, it’s worrying. We’re already exhausted by this hunger strike," she said.

Congress is not due to sit again before Thursday, and it is not known when the amnesty bill will next come up for discussion.