Editing Nicolás Maduro (section)

===Recent developments===
In October 2018, the Councilor of Caracas, Fernando Alban, traveled to New York to denounce the brutality of the Maduro regime, outside the General Assembly of the United Nations. Upon his return to Venezuela on October 5, Maduro's secret police arrested him at the airport. He died in custody a few days later, when he mysteriously fell from a window on the 10th floor of a maximum security prison in Caracas. Opponents of Maduro's regime accused security forces of murdering him.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20181009041603/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/the_americas/venezuela-caracas-opposition-councilman-dies-in-jail/2018/10/08/2c72e57c-cb5d-11e8-ad0a-0e01efba3cc1_story.html Venezuela: Caracas opposition councilman dies in jail], ''The Washington Post''</ref>

Maduro is increasingly trustinig the National Police [[Special Action Forces]] (FAES) he created in 2017 to carry out illegal raids and extrajudicial killings. The FAES, made up of 1,300 officers, is accused of killing more than 100 people in low-income neighborhoods from June to December 2018. On March 20, 2019, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Michelle Bachelet, FAES executed 37 people in connection with illegal home invasion raids in January.<ref name=Bachelet/>

The regime has deployed the National Guard and civilian militias known as collectives to repress peaceful protesters. According to the National Assembly, the previous regime is responsible for at least 40 deaths related to the protest so far this year.

On April 5, 2019, the human rights NGO PROVEA announced the discovery of several clandestine detention centers, including three allegedly led by collectives, police, state security forces and intelligence agencies, where the former regime stopped and mistreated extralegally to Venezuelan citizens.<ref name=Maduro/>

On April 4, 2019, the police raided the house of the National Assembly deputy, Roberto Alcalá, in an effort to prosecute him for fabricated terrorism charges.

On March 21, 2019, Venezuelan police raided the house of the acting chief of interim President Juan Guaidó, Roberto Marrero, and arrested him for alleged involvement in a plot to assassinate Maduro. Despite international condemnation, Maduro's intelligence agency, [[SEBIN]], continues to hold him.<ref>[https://www.reuters.com/article/us-venezuela-politics/venezuelas-guaido-says-intelligence-agents-detained-his-chief-of-staff-idUSKCN1R20WT Venezuela detains top aide to Guaido in move U.S. calls 'big mistake'], ''Reuters''</ref> SEBIN has a history of using cruel and inhuman treatment to force confessions.<ref>[http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/political-protesters-are-left-to-rot-in-venezuelas-secretive-underground-prison/story-fnu2pycd-1227457672139 Political protesters are left to rot in Venezuela’s secretive underground prison], ''News.com.au''</ref>

On 26 March 2020, the United States government issued a warrant for the arrest of Maduro on charges of drug trafficking and narco-terrorism, claiming that the Venezuelan government had shipped tons of cocaine into America in order to wage a "health war" against the United States.<ref>[http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/26/nicolas-maduro-us-indictment-venezuela-drug-trafficking-leaders US indicts Nicolás Maduro and other top Venezuelan leaders for drug trafficking], ''The Guardian''</ref>

In 2021 the International Criminal Court opened an investigation into Maduro's government on charges of crimes against humanity relating to thousands of cases of murder, arbitrary detention and attacks against the judiciary allegedly sanctioned by the state.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/nov/04/venezuela-faces-landmark-icc-investigation-over-alleged-crimes-against-humanity Venezuela faces landmark ICC investigation over alleged crimes against humanity], ''The Guardian''</ref> This followed a 2018 investigation by the Organization of American States which found that crimes against humanity have been committed in Venezuela during Maduro's tenure.<ref>[https://nationalpost.com/news/politics/canada-introduces-new-sanctions-on-venezuelan-regime-in-wake-of-devastating-report-on-crimes-against-humanity Canada introduces new sanctions on Venezuelan regime in wake of devastating report on crimes against humanity], ''National Post''</ref>