At an event to commemorate the handing over of subsidized homes to residents of Tanaguarenas, Vargas state, Maduro said that would give Venezuelans details tonight regarding the murder of Robert Serra last week. Maduro said:
In the new few hours I’m going to give out some information that I’m legally allowed to give. As head of state, I’m going to inform the people, the entire country, how [the murder] was planned, who planned it, and how much was paid to assassinate deputy Robert Serra.
(…)
I’m going to give out all the information, and from a legal point of view the whole process is going very well. You know what justice is already. There’s legal justice, and it must be met – we have to capture his killers and the intellectual authors. But the greater justice which transcends [all] is to build a free and happy homeland. Those who believe in God and an afterlife: be safe in the knowledge that justice will be done.
I will give out all the information when the law tells me it’s O.K. to do so. And may those responsible pay with 30 years in jail.
Manfredi Resident Challenges Gov’t Account
Residents of the Manfredi building in Quinta Crespo, Caracas, challenged the official government account that the men killed in the day-long confrontation with police officers on Tuesday were violent criminals.
Xiomara Aguilera, a resident of the building and witness to Tuesday’s events, said:
Everyone knew they were armed, because they worked for the government, but there were not delinquents like the police said they were.
The mother of one of the victims, Michael Contreras, said:
They killed him for being a revolutionary. He believed in an honest revolution, but he said that there was a lot of corruption. How can they say he was a criminal, if he was taking courses in SEBIN [the Venezuelan equivalent of the CIA]?
Venezuela Ordered to Pay
The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) – which acts as an arbitrator in international investment disputes – ruled against the Venezuelan government today in its dispute with Exxon Mobil. The dispute, dating back to 2007, stems from the Venezuela government’s expropriation of the company’s assets in the country.
The unanimous ruling calls for Venezuela to pay Exxon Mobile $1.6 billion. Exxon Mobil had asked for $16.6 billion.
Rafael Ramirez, the country’s foreign minister, spoke on the decision a short while ago, saying:
This is the culmination of a long process in which our country, our republic, defended the sovereign control of our resources. We’ve defended our decision to nationalize the [Orinoco] strip in an historic manner.
Opinion
It’s worth pointing out how absurd it is for Maduro to claim to know the definitive version of the Rober Serra murder case.
Maduro claims to know “how [the murder] was planned, who planned it, and how much” the masterminds paid to have Serra killed. Maduro can’t possibly know any of this, because a trial has not yet been conducted. Once again, Maduro is acting as judge and jury in a criminal case.The entire purpose of criminal trials is to establish guilt or innocence. Someone is accused of a crime, they go to court, and a judge and/or jury decide if that person is guilty or innocent based on the evidence brought before the court.
Essentially, what Maduro is saying is, “Who needs trials? Who needs judges? Just listen to me. I know who did it“. Maduro’s comments prove once more that there is no due process in Venezuela; you’re guilty if the government says you are.
In Venezuela 