Venezuela: Victims of Right-Wing Violence Died With Shots to the Back and Head
Far-right’s small commandos in the streets of the peripheral areas of Caracas, July 30, 2024. Photo: X/ @aapayes
August 14, 2024 Hour: 3:09 pm
The incidents were sparked by statements made by Maria Corina Machado, a far-right politician who rejected the electoral results.
On Wednesday, the Venezuelan newspaper Últimas Noticias published a journalistic investigation showing that the violence that erupted after the presidential elections left 25 dead and 192 injured.
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The violent incidents were sparked by statements made in the early hours of July 29, when the far-right politician Maria Corina Machado rejected the first bulletin of electoral results issued by the National Electoral Council (CNE), which declared President Nicolas Maduro the winner.
Claiming fraud, she presented completely different results and announced that the new president of Venezuela was Edmundo Gonzalez, who supposedly received 67 percent of the votes. Following these baseless statements, far-right activists began their vandalistic actions.
“Groups of hooded youths began to invade the streets and tear down Maduro’s posters to start the first bonfires. They overturned garbage containers and scattered waste across the streets, which they blocked with logs, tires, and manhole covers,” Ultimas Noticias recalled.
“Three hours later, the streets in peripheral areas of Caracas were ablaze, as were social networks, where videos of these events, narrated by the perpetrators themselves, were spreading, cursing Maduro and announcing ‘We’re coming for you’,” it added.
Amid the violence unleashed by the far-right’s Small Commandos, U.S. businessman Erik Prince fueled the flames with a post saying, “Warning: Real Americans will not tolerate you abusing those who seek freedom. Say NO to Socialism! The International Criminal Court or something worse awaits. Leave now in peace!” he wrote, addressing Venezuelan President Maduro.
The violence also affected 60 international observers who were in a CNE tent that was shot at from the street. On that day, the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB) captured 20 activists near the CNE headquarters and thwarted an attack on the Miraflores Palace. In the tally of fatalities, the Ultimas Noticias report mentions unprecedented acts of violence, such as the murder of Isabel Cirilia, a 72-year-old woman who received 48 stab wounds to the head.
“In the early hours of July 30, approximately seven bodies from areas vandalized by hooded individuals arrived at the Bello Monte morgue. One of the victims was Jeison Bracho, a 22-year-old man, killed in the El Limon sector, on the old Caracas-La Guaira highway, where there were disturbances. A couple on motorcycles passed by and shot Jeison in the head.”
The Ultimas Noticias journalistic investigation compiles data on the known victims and details the circumstances in which they died. Among them was also Jose Torrents, a First Sergeant of the Bolivarian National Guard, who tried to contain violent groups attacking the Paratrooper Brigade.
“Terrorist groups fired shots at the officers. Torrents was shot in the neck, which caused his death,” reported Attorney General Tarek William Saab, who indicated that the perpetrator of this crime was identified through a video and is currently in custody.
teleSUR/ JF Source: Ultimas Noticias
