The Los Teques Women’s Penitentiary Center, where Verónica Andrenía Rojas Soto will have to serve a 10-year sentence for allegedly inciting hatred through a WhatsApp message.
Guacamaya, October 16, 2025. A court in the state of Miranda handed down a 10-year prison sentence to 44-year-old Verónica Andrenía Rojas Soto, accused of inciting hatred. This is allegedly due to a message critical of Nicolás Maduro in a private WhatsApp conversation.
Rojas was arrested three months ago for the comment made in a conversation with a friend, who was also arrested but was released weeks later, according to the local media outlet El Tequeño.
The sentence sets a dangerous precedent for all citizens, as even private conversations are being criminalized.
Karelys Rojas, the detainee’s daughter and a resident of Portugal, called on the competent authorities to review the decision. In statements to the local media, she expressed that her mother “is a homemaker, dedicated to her family and with no prior record,” emphasizing that “she only shared an opinion in a private space, with no intention of causing harm.”
The case occurs in a context where various national and international organizations have pointed out the need to protect freedom of expression and the right to privacy on digital platforms, issues that continue to generate debate in the country.
Veronica Rojas will have to serve her 10-year sentence at the Los Teques Women’s Penitentiary Centre, where she is already imprisoned.
