Gabriel González

Ismael Gabriel González is a Venezuelan journalist. He worked as a journalist for the communications team of the opposition Comando Venezuela Libre and of opposition leader María Corina Machado. González was detained on the eve of the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, on 17 June 2024, after participating in the visit of presidential candidate Edmundo González to Maiquetía, and was subsequently charged with the offenses of "incitement to hate" and "criminal association". The Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Prensa (National Union of Press Workers) confirmed his release on 14 January 2026, after he had spent one year, six months and 28 days in detention.

Amnesty International stated that "the reports of the detentions of Gabriel González, Javier Cisneros (released), Jeancarlos Rivas, Luis López and Juan Iriarte are consistent with the policy of repression that we have denounced for years, and we once again demand its immediate cessation".

Career Originally from Carayaca in Vargas state, González graduated as a journalist from the Universidad Católica Santa Rosa (USCAR), in Caracas. He worked in the press team of María Corina Machado from 2016, where he served as national communications coordinator for Vente Joven, and on the eve of the 2024 Venezuelan presidential election, as a journalist on the communications team of the opposition Comando Venezuela Libre, attending and participating in events organized nationwide. In 2021, he briefly worked as a production assistant at Radio Caracas Radio (RCR). He has also been an activist for LGBT community rights and wrote opinion articles about the Venezuelan crisis.

He was presented before the Second Court of Control with Competence in Terrorism, and charged with the offenses of "incitement to hate" and "criminal association", along with Jeancarlos Rivas and Juan Iriarte, of Vente Venezuela; and fellow journalist Luis López. His lawyers and parents waited for the hearing to take place at the court, only to be told that the judge and court staff had left and that the hearing had been postponed. However, upon returning to the courts, they were informed that the hearing had in fact been held. González was held in El Helicoide until 15 September 2025, when he was transferred to the Yare II penitentiary, from which he was released on 14 January 2026. presidential candidate Edmundo González and María Corina Machado, leader of Vente Venezuela, condemned the detentions and demanded the immediate release of the journalists and party leaders. Edmundo González specifically stated that the detentions violated the Barbados Agreement on electoral guarantees and announced that they would take the case to international bodies. César Pérez Vivas, a former presidential pre-candidate for the COPEI party, said of the arrests: "It is an arbitrary act that violates democratic principles".

Amnesty International stated that "the reports of the detentions of Gabriel González, Javier Cisneros (released), Jeancarlos Rivas, Luis López and Juan Iriarte are consistent with the policy of repression that we have denounced for years, and we again demand its immediate cessation". The United States Assistant Secretary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, Brian A. Nichols, stated that "the latest detentions and the continued harassment of members of the democratic opposition in Venezuela are very concerning developments on the eve of the presidential elections of 28 July. Venezuelan candidates and activists must be able to campaign peacefully and without intimidation".