Political protesters are left to rot in Venezuela’s secretive underground prison

[brooklynite]

The News (Australia):

ORIGINALLY designed as an underground subway station, Venezuela’s most notorious and feared prison is essentially a cement box that sits five storeys beneath the headquarters of the country’s intelligence agency in Caracas.

Known as the Tomb, or La Tumba, the secretive prison is filled with political protesters who are completely starved of daylight, face torturous conditions and are denied basic human rights.

Friends and family of those who have been thrown into the Tomb say the prisoners — mostly made up of peaceful protesters — are being left there to die.

There are no windows to the outside world and the complete lack of ventilation means the air is stale with a lingering stench, while the below-freezing temperatures in the subterranean cells can become unbearably cold. With no toilet facilities in their cell, prisoners are often denied the chance to go to the bathroom.

[hollysmom]

1. the only thing I question is the below freezing temperatures.

I thought the further down you go, the closer to 60/50 degrees stable you get.

[11 Bravo]

2. The Maduroistas will be along directly to commence ...

with your re-education.

[Rex]

3. Wow, so I guess Venezuela and Chicago now have something in common.

http://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2015/feb/24/chicago-police-detain-americans-black-site

[Igel]

5. Yeah, but the Chicago site sounds like where the Venezuelans send theirs for R&R.

Perhaps one day we'll be able to match the wonders of Venezuela that so many seem to admire. The Chicago site is a partial, meek down-payment to those dreams of glory.

That's the problem with weak tu quoque fallacies. People act like it justifies really bad things by an attempt to change the subject to something that is condemned as much as something that's worse. At best all it says is there's a double standard: It's okay when those with the right label or ideology do bad things, but we--be it Westerners, white men, capitalists, progressives, whatever your term for "superior humans"--must be held to a higher standard. If anything, it says that however bad you think the Chicago PD is, Maduro's worse and eventually might, if he improves, come up to the standards of among the worst of racist American cops.

And to say Maduro is better is to express a desire for American cops to become more abusive.

With strong tu-quoque fallacies at least they're equal in badness and so the blame gets shared. But it still justifies nothing.

[COLGATE4]

4. Another example of the

humanistic policies of the 'Bolivarian Revolution'