Testimonios | Señor U: “El régimen es como una guerra hay inocentes que van a morir”

Mr. U. is a 27-year-old man living in a rural district in the eastern part of the country. Mr. U.'s family works in one of the area's tourist spots, and like most boatmen, he was subjected to extortion by a gang. He believes the police arrested him for this reason: for having been forced under threat of death to hand over money to this criminal organization, although at the time of this interview, he was still unsure of the reasons for his capture. Unlike many of his relatives and neighbors, he was only detained for a little over a month: due to a serious chronic illness, he was never able to be transferred to a prison and spent those days in a police station cell, where his health care was at the mercy of the officers. He describes humiliation, beatings, overcrowding, and hunger. Mr. U. celebrates the effects that the state of emergency has had on the dismantling of gangs, which in his case has resulted in no longer having to pay extortion to the gang. However, he believes the same thing could have been achieved without the need to capture innocent people. He believes the state of emergency is like a war, where people completely lose their human status. Visit https://apoya.elfaro.net