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| - Several healthcare workers were detained in Venezuela for disseminating information about the novel coronavirus outbreak, a local NGO said Thursday. Out of about 100 detentions for "political reasons" reported since March, 10 were "people who had referred to the pandemic," mostly healthcare workers, said Alfredo Romero, the director of Foro Penal, an NGO critical of President Nicolas Maduro. Foro Penal says there are 362 political prisoners in the country. "In this group, there's a 70-year-old man, a health worker, under house arrest," said Romero. "A bioanalyst who referred to a case on WhatsApp is also under house arrest, and a nurse was detained for making a video in which he complained about hospital conditions." Foro Penal also denounced 16 "forced disappearances" since April 20 of "people supposedly involved in conspiracies or in an act of rebellion." Crippled by the worst economic crisis in its history, Venezuela's health care system is badly under-funded and lacking in vital supplies. And yet the government, which has received humanitarian aid from allies Cuba and Russia, has only reported 379 coronavirus cases and 10 deaths. On April 27, the United States, which has hit Venezuela with a raft of sanctions, accused the Maduro regime of "repressing" doctors and journalists who "tell the truth" about the virus emergency. Another 11 Venezuelans have been arrested for "sending messages against public officials" or sharing them on WhatsApp, said Romero. Among those detained since the pandemic broke out are several people close to opposition leader Juan Guaido, whom Maduro has accused of orchestrating an alleged sea invasion attempt by mercenaries that was foiled early Sunday morning. mbj/erc/piz/bc/to
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