Regina Garcia Cano, a reporter for The Associated Press, described how two Venezuelan women helped lead a long protest in Caracas that targeted detentions of political prisoners, as families pressed authorities for releases they say were overdue. In Garcia Cano’s account, the women—along with other supporters—staged a sit-in outside a police station during a 64-day stretch, hoping husbands and loved ones held there would be freed.
The women’s effort unfolded against a fast-changing political backdrop, Garcia Cano said in an interview about the story, describing how the U.S. in January backed a ruling-party loyalist to lead Venezuela after then-President Nicolás Maduro was deposed. She said the government of acting President Delcy Rodríguez released all U.S. citizens held in Venezuelan prisons, but did not free hundreds of Venezuelans that human rights groups contend are held for political reasons.
Garcia Cano said five days after Maduro was captured, Venezuelan authorities announced they would release a “significant number” of prisoners, and weeks later Rodríguez signed an amnesty measure that could benefit thousands of dissidents and opposition figures who were previously or still detained. She described how those actions prompted dozens of women—mostly wives and mothers of people detained—to gather outside police stations, jails and prisons, expecting their loved ones to walk free.
When those releases did not come, Garcia Cano said the protesters refused to leave and instead began camping in front of the detention facilities. She said the sit-in model tested both the women’s stamina and the government’s posture toward dissent, describing how a tent city outside the police station was eventually taken down and how the women went home.
Garcia Cano said, however, that the women’s “journey” had not ended after the camp ended, as they continued seeking ways to free their husbands. In her telling, the protest also reflected how unusual the act of sustained public challenge had become in Venezuela, particularly after authorities showed they would not tolerate dissent up until that moment.
She pointed to Jan. 3 as a turning point, describing how Venezuelans had previously been told the government had no tolerance for dissent. Garcia Cano said more than 2,000 people were detained after a 2024 presidential election in which Maduro claimed victory amid what she described as ample credible evidence to the contrary, and she said many detentions involved people who had not protested.
Asked what made the protest stand out, Garcia Cano said the women were the first Venezuelans to challenge the ruling party in the post-Maduro era. She described the leaders—many of them housewives—as having set aside fear and advice from friends and family to keep quiet, despite the risk of arrest, and said that for the most part, they succeeded in keeping pressure on authorities.
Garcia Cano said her reporting focused on two women—Mendoza and Rosales—after she and video journalist Juan Arraez interviewed many women protesting outside detention facilities. She said Arraez even slept “a few times” at the camp where Mendoza and Rosales lived, and she said the story centered on them because each spent significant time camping outside a jail while leaving children and daily life behind.
She also described Mendoza and Rosales as strangers who became friends through shared struggle and said their family situations reflected two common Venezuelan life stories. Garcia Cano said Rosales’s husband and she worked for the state, supported the ruling party, and lived in a once-thriving community, while Mendoza and her husband were apolitical and depended mainly on income from the private sector.
In concluding remarks about what she learned from the women at the center of the reporting, Garcia Cano said the story involved more than protest tactics and government pressure. She said it also showed “deep female friendships,” describing how the women moved from being shy and suspicious strangers to chatty, candid and supportive friends, learning to protest, use a megaphone, advocate to lawmakers and navigate jail rules. She said they relied on one another emotionally—holding each other when they cried and cheering each other’s victories—as they discussed fears, love, parenting and doubts.