Early in the overnight hours, agents from the Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional [National Bolivarian Intelligence Service] (SEBIN) conducted a raid on Daniel Ceballos’ home and transported him to the 26 de Julio prison in San Juan de los Morros, Guarico state.
Ceballos was the opposition mayor of Tachira state in 2014 when he was arrested over his alleged role in the protests that broke out throughout the country that year. On August 11, 2015, Ceballos was granted house arrest for medical reasons. He has served the terms of his arrest at home without incident since.
Early this morning, Cabello’s wife – Patricia de Ceballos – announced through Twitter that SEBIN agents arrived at their home at 3:00 AM. The agents brought with them an ambulance, and told the Ceballos family that they were there to conduct a medical examination on Daniel.Once Daniel got on the ambulance, they showed him the transfer papers and told him they were actually taking him to prison.
It is not clear at this time why Ceballos was taken out of house arrest an back to prison.
National Assembly President Henry Ramos Allup reacted to the news by saying that the Maduro government would also seek to transfer another one of its political prisoners currently held under house arrest – Caracas mayor Antonio Ledezma – back to the Ramo Verde prison. Allup did not provide any evidence for his claim.
Army Compiling List of Soldiers Who Signed For Recall
A journalist by the name of Thabata Molina provided evidence through her Twitter account today that the National Bolivarian Armed Forces are compiling a list of army staff who signed in favour of holding a recall against Maduro earlier this year.
Molina provided as evidence what appears to be a signed order from Divisional General Jorge Javier Parra Vega. The order – which is heavily laden with military lingo and acronyms, contains the following sentence:
I AM INFORMING YOU THAT YOU MUST URGENTLY SUBMIT A LIST OF ALL MILITARY AND CIVILIAN STAFF FROM ALL UNITS (OPERATIVE AND ADMINISTRATIVE) UNDER YOUR JURISDICTION (…) WHO SIGNED DURING [IN FAVOUR OF] THE RECALL REFERENDUM AGAINST THE CONSTITUTIONAL PRESIDENT OF THE BOLIVARIAN REPUBLIC OF VENEZUELA AND THE COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF THE [NATIONAL BOLIVARIAN ARMED FORCES].
The order is addressed to the “Commander of the Tachira, Merida and Trujillo” military defense region. General Parra is the commander of the Los Andes region, which includes the states of Tachira, Merida and Trujillo. It is not clear if the order is specific to this region, or if commanders in other regions received the same or similar order from their respective superiors.
Maduro: Coup Underway
Maduro gave a speech today in which he said that a “fascist” coup was underway in Venezuela, alluding to the opposition protest planned for Caracas for September 1.
There is a planned coup underway from the fascist state, organized from the United States, to bring violence to Venezuela. We will not allow this. The people on the streets will not allow this.
Referring to himself in the third person as he often does, Maduro called on his supporters to “take to the streets and bring out justice” in the event that “something happens to Nicolas Maduro”. Maduro continued telling his supporters what to do if he were to be removed from power by saying:
Stop everything from one end of this country to the other until you restore the revolution and the constitutional president. That is an order that I’m giving you.
Speaking on the “Revolutionary Offensive” that is supposed to start on September 1, Maduro said that it would be an “overwhelming, all-encompassing” one. Although he did not provide any concrete information about how it would look like exactly, he suggested that it would involve tackling the country’s economic crisis.
Maduro also touted his accomplishments as president by pointing out highly dubious official statistics, such as one that puts the unemployment rate “under 7%” and estimated that extreme poverty in the country would end the year under the 4% mark.
New Initiative Will Mandate Documentary Broadcasts Every Day
Maduro also announced a new media initiative aimed at “creating and strengthening” the knowledge and understanding of the Venezuelan people.
Starting on Monday, every radio and television network in the country must air a documentary series that, according to Maduro, explains the truth about the 2002 coup d’etat against Chavez. The starting documentary is called “Clues to a Massacre”, and must be aired in its entirety by every broadcast in the country starting at 8:00 PM.
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