Óscar Castañeda
Óscar Castañeda is a Venezuelan opposition activist. He was arrested in April 2024 in Portuguesa state alongside two other activists, after a campaign rally for opposition leader María Corina Machado, and held for more than a year and a half before his release in early 2026.
Background
Castañeda had migrated to Colombia during the Venezuelan crisis and returned to Venezuela on 9 April 2024. After returning he joined the opposition party Vente Venezuela.
Arrest
On 26 April 2024 Castañeda spoke in support of Machado at a rally in Turén, a Portuguesa town historically aligned with chavismo. He was arrested the following day by officers of the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (SEBIN); two further Machado campaigners in the state were detained over the next 24 hours. According to political scientist Nicmer Evans, Castañeda and his fellow detainees were charged with conspiracy. The three were brought before courts in Acarigua.
Shortly after the arrests, pro-government commentators focused on the cap Castañeda had worn at the rally, which displayed the initials "JGL"—a reference to the "JGL 701" brand created by a daughter of "El Chapo" Guzmán. The line was discontinued in 2023, but unauthorised imitations sold in Colombia and Mexico had become a fashion item associated with corrido tumbado music; Venezuelan fact-checkers concluded that the cap was not evidence of any criminal link.
The NGO Foro Penal reported that the court refused to allow the detainees to appoint their own defence counsel.
Reactions
The opposition Unitary Platform condemned the arrests in Portuguesa and demanded the activists' immediate release. The United States also condemned the detentions; Brian A. Nichols, the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, said they undermined "an inclusive electoral process" and called for the release of all political prisoners in Venezuela.
On 30 April 2024, 31 Venezuelan non-governmental organisations issued a joint statement rejecting the arrests and arguing that the government's "persecution and repression" breached the 2023 Barbados Agreement between the government and the opposition.
See also
- Detention of Rocío San Miguel
- Political prisoners during the Bolivarian Revolution
- Vente Venezuela
- Foro Penal