Venezuela Sentences Doctor To 30 Years For WhatsApp Message

Authored by Jonathan Turley,

The Venezuelan socialist regime has just sentenced a 65-year-old doctor, Marggie Orozco, to 30 years in prison for criticizing the regime of socialist dictator Nicolás Maduro in a WhatsApp voice note in 2024.

Orozco was reportedly found guilty of “treason to the fatherland, incitement to hatred, and conspiracy” in complaining about the regime’s distribution of the often hard-to-find domestic gas cylinders in her community.

She has already suffered two heart attacks in the last two years, including one while in prison.

Some on the left, including members of the Chicago Teachers’ Union, have praised Venezuela despite being a brutal authoritarian regime.

This conviction was notably under the regime’s “anti-hate speech” law for those spreading “hateful content.”

As many in the West denounce this conviction, it is important to note that Western countries use the same ill-defined laws to punish citizens in their own countries for “inciting hatred” or spreading dangerous disinformation.

In the United Kingdom, a person was convicted for having “toxic ideologies.” A woman in the UK was arrested for silently praying near an abortion clinic.

Canada has used the same rationales as Russia for punishing its citizens for political views.

The difference appears not to be the limits on free speech but who is yielding these powers.

It is like arguing that your country may have the same authoritarian laws, but it is a benign authoritarianism.

If the Orozco case disgusts you, you should also be disgusted by Western countries and the European Union wielding the same powers.