Overview
- The cadets left El Rodeo I after roughly 15 months in detention tied to a conspiracy case built on gaming screenshots, according to families and Foro Penal.
- Military counterintelligence agency DGCIM led the arrests and prosecution, which rights advocates call arbitrary and politically motivated.
- Their release formed part of a broader wave triggered by a recently enacted amnesty law, with at least 36 people freed from El Rodeo I the same day.
- Ex-prisoners and NGOs describe El Rodeo I as having severe conditions, and relatives say about 300 political detainees remain there.
- Human-rights defender Ligia Bolívar condemned the case as deplorable, arguing that criminalizing ordinary online play signals expansive social control under Nicolás Maduro.