10 Years in Prison for Selling a T-Shirt of a Hugo Chávez Statue Getting Smashed
Two Venezuelan women were convicted of incitement to hatred, treason, and terrorism.
Génesis Gabriela Pabón Paredes, 27, and Rocío Del Mar Rodríguez Guillen, 24, of Mérida, Venezuela, were each sentenced to 10 years in prison for printing a T-shirt with an image of a demonstrator destroying a statue of Hugo Chávez, the deceased socialist president responsible for Venezuela's economic and democratic collapse. The Argentinian news site Infobae first reported the story.
The incident occurred about a month after the two women launched their small T-shirt printing business. Pabón, who holds a technical degree in radiology, and Rodríguez, who studied business administration, received what seemed like a routine order via WhatsApp to make a T-shirt featuring the image.
At first, they didn't accept the order, but the customer was insistent, and after multiple requests, he said that the matter was urgent and sent them $45 as an advance payment.
Rodríguez later said that accepting the order was "foolish" and that they did so only because they needed "a little money to pay our debts."
On August 16, 2024, they were arrested while delivering the order. Authorities later confiscated their equipment, including two printers, approximately 90 blank T-shirts, a laptop, a notebook, nine containers of serigraphy paint, a press, and various samples.
The women were convicted of incitement to hatred, treason, and terrorism.
Since her arrest, Pabón has reportedly suffered from health issues, including convulsions.
Roughly two months after the arrest, 12 of the police officers involved in the investigation were themselves taken into custody in a separate case, and those officers now face charges, including treason and conspiracy.
The image on the t-shirt depicts Jobani José Romero Nava smashing a Chávez statue with a hammer, an image that quickly became a political symbol. (Romero was arrested in late July 2024.)
After Nicolás Maduro stole the Venezuelan presidential election on July 28, 2024, protesters flooded the streets demanding justice, and demonstrators destroyed statues of Hugo Chávez across the country.
The case of Pabón and Rodríguez is part of a broader crackdown on dissent. As of July 21, 2025, the Maduro regime has 853 political prisoners in custody, according to the nongovernmental organization Foro Penal. Over a 72-hour period in July, at least 20 opposition members and electoral witnesses were detained, which the opposition leader María Corina Machado denounced as a "brutal wave of repression."
Since 2014, over 18,000 people have been detained for political reasons in Venezuela. Over 9,000 individuals remain under restrictive measures, including those subject to court summons or travel bans. Forty-six individuals are currently listed as forcibly disappeared.
Meanwhile, Venezuelan entrepreneurs living outside the country are selling T-shirts with the iconic image of Romero smashing the Chávez statue without fear.
