October 10: Blocked

Two photographs that appear to show Robert Serra’s body inside a morgue were released on Twitter today by an anonymous user.

The pictures show a man’s naked body on a metal table in what appears to be a morgue. The man – who resembles Serra – appears to have multiple puncture wounds on the left side of his chest and head. (WARNING: This link contains the pictures).

The user who uploaded the pictures allegedly hacked the account of someone named Victor Ugas to do so, and posted the following string of messages:

Tweet #1: I’M REALLY LAUGHING WITH YOU

Tweet #2: THIS IS SO FUNNY, I’M MAKING A JOKE OUT OF THE SEBIN AND OF THE LITTLE GOVERNMENT THEY CAN’T KNOW WHO I AM HAHAHA SERIOUSLY, CHAVISTA SECURITY DOESN’T WORK

Tweet #3: I’M NOT FROM THE CIA OR FROM THE EMPIRE OR ANY SHIT LIKE THAT DON’T BELIEVE THE LIES I’M SITTING IN MY HOUSE MESSING WITH THE GOVERNMENT… I RELEASED THE PICTURE ALREADY

Tweet #4: I’M NOT VICTOR UGAS LET HIM ALONE. THIS ACCOUNT WAS HACKED TO RELEASE THE PICTURE OF SERRA

Tweet #5: [LOOK HOW] I’M MESSING WITH THE CHAVISTAS I DON’T KNOW HOW THE OPPOSITION ISN’T IN POWER THEY’RE ALSO STUPID

Tweet #6: DON’T DO ANYTHING TO VICTOR UGAS HIS ACCOUNT WAS HACKED. I’M SORRY VICTOR BUT I HAD TO SHOW THE PICTURE TO SHOW THE TRUTH

The pictures were published on Infobae.com, an Argentinian news website. Shortly after the pictures appeared on the website, it was blocked by the Venezuelan government. In other words, Infobae.com was made inaccessible to users trying to connect to the site from inside Venezuela.

William Castillo, the president of the Comision Nacional de Telecomunicaciones (CONATEL) released a statement, saying:

Following orders, in light of the grave violation of Venezuelan laws, CONATEL has ordered the blocking of the Infobae website.

Venezuela’s intelligence agency, SEBIN, accused the director of NTN24 – a Colombian news channel – of taking the pictures in question. The director, Johnattan Bilancieri, quickly denied having taken the pictures, and believes that SEBIN agents might be confused by the fact that one of his tweets was cited in the original Infobae story.

Foreign Ministry Tells U.N. to Back Off

The Venezuelan government rejected the findings of a United Nations body which called for Leopoldo Lopez’s immediate release earlier this week.

Rafael Ramirez, the Venezuelan Foreign Minister, said today:

Just as we told the U.S. Department of State to not get involved in our business, we say the same thing to any working group from any organization.