Sleeping with one eye open: Venezuelans reel from US strikes

Caracas: Since the January 3 capture of autocrat Nicolas Maduro in a US military raid that killed dozens, Caracas resident J has been unable to slee...

Caracas: Since the January 3 capture of autocrat Nicolas Maduro in a US military raid that killed dozens, Caracas resident "J" has been unable to sleep -- one of countless Venezuelans left psychologically scarred by the event.

When she closes her eyes, she relives the wild shaking of her bed, her teenaged son clinging to her in fear, as explosions lit their apartment in an eery yellow glow and neighbors' screams filled the air.

"I feel insecurity, shame, anger. I feel many things, but mainly I feel fear," the 50-something woman told AFP in a trembling voice weeks after the strike.

"J" and others who spoke to AFP were too afraid to give their names at a time the state machinery is rounding up anyone perceived to support the US attack.

Venezuela was estimated to have hundreds of political prisoners before the US intervention. And though it has started to release them under pressure from Washington, new arrests of government critics have been reported.