Juan Carlos Barroeta
Juan Carlos Barroeta is a lawyer and human rights defender who works in the defence of people who have been incriminated in unjust and unproven criminal proceedings, in particular in favour of the victims' right to a legitimate defence. He currently works for the organisation "Iniciativa Para Una Justicia Igualitaria", together with lawyer Engels Puertas.
HRDs have been working under restrictive policies for many years: the Maduro administration has continued the work begun by Chávez in restricting civil space and delegitimising HRDs, repeatedly accusing them of undermining the Venezuelan democracy with the alleged collaboration of the United States. HRDs are discredited and criminalised by state-controlled media (television, radio, print media) on a weekly basis.
