Venezuela election: Opposition hopes for win after years of repression

An economic crisis has forced millions to flee Venezuela. Could Sunday's election bring real change?

British Broadcasting CorporationWatchHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureTravelEarthVideoLiveHomeNewsIsrael-Gaza WarWar in UkraineUS ElectionUS & CanadaUKUK PoliticsEnglandN. IrelandN. Ireland PoliticsScotlandScotland PoliticsWalesWales PoliticsAfricaAsiaChinaIndiaAustraliaEuropeLatin AmericaMiddle EastIn PicturesBBC VerifySportBusinessExecutive LoungeTechnology of BusinessWomen at the HelmFuture of BusinessInnovationTechnologyScience & HealthArtificial IntelligenceAI v the MindCultureFilm & TVMusicArt & DesignStyleBooksEntertainment NewsTravelDestinationsAfricaAntarcticaAsiaAustralia and PacificCaribbean & BermudaCentral AmericaEuropeMiddle EastNorth AmericaSouth AmericaWorld’s TableCulture & ExperiencesAdventuresThe SpeciaListEarthNatural WondersWeather & ScienceClimate SolutionsSustainable BusinessGreen LivingVideoLiveLive NewsLive SportHomeNewsSportBusinessInnovationCultureTravelEarthVideoLiveAudioWeatherNewslettersVenezuela holds elections on Sunday. Could real change be coming?Family handoutEmirlendris Benítez (centre) was sentenced to a 30-year jail term in 2018“She’s going to rot in jail. No one is going to get her out.”

That was what prison guards told the family of Emirlendris Benítez. She disappeared in Venezuela in August 2018 after she and her partner - a taxi driver - were arrested while giving somebody a lift to the city centre.

She was arbitrarily accused of organising a plot to kill the president and, without a fair trial, given a 30-year prison sentence.

When she was taken to prison, she was pregnant. Guards beat her stomach despite her protestations, and she had a miscarriage.

Her family tell us she has faced torture in prison, including having her nails removed with a hammer.

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c0kry1zpqq8o

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