“We live without constitutional guarantees”: Vladimir Villegas condemned the arrest of Nelin Escalante

Journalist Vladimir Villegas condemned the arrest of Nelen Escalante who, according to a complaint from his colleagues and the National College of Journalists, disappeared for more than 40 hours after being contacted by officials of the General Directorate of Information Affairs.

In a message on his account X, formerly Twitter, he responded to the complaint made by the CNP on the same social network on Saturday.

“The detention and incommunicado detention of Nelene Escalante is a new attack against the Venezuelan Journalists’ Syndicate. “His name joins a long list of social media influencers imprisoned or punished for doing their work.”

As he put it, journalism has become a risky profession in Venezuela and has been criminalized by enemies of freedom of expression.

“Some of them are signatories of the Magna Carta of 1999 and hold very high responsibilities in various public authorities. Even adherence to the principles of our code of ethics can be tantamount to a passport to prison.” “The right to inform and obtain information is in question in Bolivar’s homeland.”

For Villegas, “the state of exception has become everyday life. Journalists and Venezuelans in general live without constitutional guarantees. The facts confirm this.”

For his part, technology expert journalist Fran Monroy wrote this morning, “Unfortunately, after more than 40 hours we know nothing.”

The arrest and incommunicado detention of Nelene Escalante is a new attack against the Venezuelan Journalists’ Union. His name joins a long list of social media pioneers who have been imprisoned or punished for doing their work, as journalism has become a profession…

– Vladimir Villegas TV ◀️ (@Vladivillegastv) October 27, 2024

Unfortunately, after more than 40 hours we know nothing. https://t.co/pieTsjUYpz

— Fran Monroy Moret (@fmonroy) October 27, 2024