October 11: The Serra Case

The Tribunal Supremo de Justicia – the nation’s top court – announced today that the “presumed murderers” of Robert Serra and his partner, Maria Herrera, were arrested today.

While the court did not give any more details regarding the arrest, Maduro spoke on them earlier in the day. The video below shows Maduro addressing the case, with my translation below:

We carry that with us here [in our hearts] every day, let me tell you. That pain, for our dear young man, Robert Serra. The investigations, as the Minister of the Interior said today, well, they’re going really well. All of the material culprits, all of them, have been identified. I can tell you that, even though I’m waiting a few days, that we’ve captured several of them. We’ve captured several of the [people who committed the murder], and we’re identifying the intellectual authors. Don’t believe that the intellectual authors will flee! No.
Just as has happened with other crimes. In the case of Danilo Anderson, the brave officer who was killed 10 years ago, we captured the material culprits immediately. They were convicted and confessed. One of them was a cop, the kinds that tortured people in the past. And the intellectual authors left the country, and they live in Miami. They claim that they’re political exiles form the Venezuelan dictatorship. The world is upside down. Same as other crimes, like Otaiza’s. We captured almost all of the material perpetrators, and we’ll continue to investigate until we capture the intellectual authors. Sooner or later… we will come to the truth.

Maduro Announces “Popular Intelligence” Service

Speaking at an event at Parque Caiza, Caracas, Maduro announced the creation of a new security mechanism. Maduro said:

We’ve already crated the reaction groups, they’re trained. We’re going to create the popular information and intelligence system. I’m going to explain it soon so that the people will be the ones to take care of the people, together, [let’s] safeguard peace and [make sure] there are no more crimes like the one involving our young martyr, Robert Serra…

The nature and scope of the presumed new intelligence body is still unknown.

Maduro also took the opportunity to berate Miranda Governor Henrique Capriles:

Bum! Focus on your work. Bum! (…) they killed our dear martyr Robert Serra, and he [Capriles] went out and said that the country was being carried away by violence. He hasn’t had the courage to come out and condemn the terrorist violence and the murder of Robert Serra. You’re a coward!

Caracas Morgue Sees 151 Dead in 10 Days

The Bello Monte morgue in Caracas – the city’s only such facility – saw 151 murder victims come through its doors during the first 11 days of October.

One of the victims was Jhonny Benitez (20), who worked unloading produce trucks at a supermarket. According to his wife, Benitez was talking to his friend by their home’s front door when two men on a motorcycle drove by and opened fire. Benitez was shot at least six times, and died at a local clinic.

Finally, a video that appears to show the moments following the arrival of CICPC officers to the Manfredir building in Quinta Crespo, Caracas, where Jose Odreman and four others later lost their lives: