DEL MAR, Calif. (AP) — Francisco Marquez says he constantly heard screams from prisoners being beaten in neighboring cells. He once saw a dozen inmates handcuffed, forced to run naked for hours under the hot sun as punishment for a failed escape attempt.

 

The 30-year-old dual U.S. citizen spoke of his four-month incarceration in his native Venezuela on Thursday, two days after he was freed and boarded a flight to join his parents in Southern California. He was arrested in June while taking part in a nationwide recall campaign against President Nicolas Maduro and accused of trying to foment violence.

 

Marquez says he can only describe one prison as a dungeon. He tells The Associated Press that his cell was completely dark, dusty and full of mosquitoes and cobwebs.