October 8: The Fringe of Law

Three out of the four remaining victims killed during the violence in Quinta Crespo, Caracas yesterday have been identified. Their names were Jesus Rodriguez (33), Jose Angel Tovar Contreras (24), and Michael Contreras Bernal (38).

According to his mother, Jesus Rodriguez was an army reservist who had been living in the Manfredir building for the last few months. She related the events leading up to his death this way:

When the second confrontation of the day started, he was just arriving at the building. He was coming back from depositing money for his two sons who live in Falcon state. At the gate of the building, he was intercepted by a CICPC officer, who asked him to hand over his daughter, whom he was carrying in his arms, to her mother, and that he should follow the officer.
They took him away, and a while later we found out that he was at the Miguel Perez Carreño hospital, and that he’d been shot to death. Before leaving, he told his wife to protect and take care of his children. His apartment was ransacked. 

Rodriguez’s mother also stated that her son had been a personal bodyguard to General Lucas Rincon and Eliezer Otaiza, a PSUV official murdered earlier this year.

So far, four of yesterday’s victims have been identified: the three men mentioned above, and Jose Odreman.

Odreman Held “Important Information”: Sister

Jose Odreman’s sister, Yamilet Davila, told media sources today that her brother held “important information”, and that she suspected that his death might be related to this fact.

Davila said that she believes that her brother was killed by his own supporters, who might have tried to get Odreman to reveal the information. When Odreman refused to divulge what the men sought they killed him, Davila speculated.

Maduro Demands Answer

The Maduro government has classified the events at Quinta Crespo yesterday as “strange”. Delcy Rodriguez, the Minister of Communication and Information, announced today that Maduro has asked for a “complete and exhaustive” investigation to find out exactly what happened yesterday in Caracas.

MUD Calls for “Crusade for Peace”

The head of the Mesa de la Unidad Democratica, Jesus Torrealba, called on all Venezuelans to join a “crusade against violence”. Torrealba said:

This will involve all Venezuelans who oppose violence, and every Venezuelan or chavista who wants to join us will be received with respect because this is a fight that belongs to all of us.

Torrealba also addressed the controversial relationship between the government and colectivos armados, the pro-government armed groups Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch observed attacking protesters earlier this year. Torrealba said:

What has become clear is that after 15 years of bad government, 15 years of pandering, of promoting these irregular armed groups [who exist] on the fringe of the law, which some criminologists call micro-states – because those groups are not regulated by either law or the constitution… after 15 years, it is evident that this institutional actor, the State, the government, will not adhere to its role if us citizens don’t force it to.

UN Calls for Release of Lopez

The United Nation’s Working Group on Arbitrary Detentions – a body which investigates cases of arbitrary detentions – issued a statement today calling for the release of Leopoldo Lopez. According to the body, Lopez was detained arbitrarily, and it calls on the Venezuelan government to release Lopez “immediately”.

The resolution is the conclusion of an investigation which has been undergoing since February of this year. By examining the crimes with which Lopez has been charged, the evidence presented against him, and the way his trial has been conducted, the body concluded that Lopez’s right to be considered innocent until proven guilty has been violated, along with his right to an adequate defence.

As a result, the resolution argues, Lopez’s detention is nothing more than “discrimination based on his political opinions”.

The full resolution, in Spanish, can be found here.