Minister of Communication Jorge Rodriguez provided an update today on the investigation into the August 4 drone attack against Maduro.
According to Rodriguez, the ring leader of the alleged operation to assassinate Maduro is a man named Henryberth Rivas, a.k.a. “Morfeo”. Rodriguez said that Rivas was taken into custody recently alongside two other he claims were also involved in the operation: Angela Lisbeth Exposito (a.k.a. “La Perra”), and retired army colonel Ramon Velasco Garcia (a.k.a. “Corocoro”).
Rodriguez also said that the investigation had also uncovered “new evidence” against Julio Borges, the now-exiled head of the Primero Justicia (PJ) opposition party. Rodriguez said that the evidence came in the form of confessions from detained individuals, but provided no further information.
During the press conference, Rodriguez also confirmed that one of the suspects–Angela Lisbeth Exposito–is the head of a non-governmental organization called Fundanimal. While an internet search did not yield any result for the organization, its name appears to be a combination of the Spanish words for “fund” and “animal”, suggesting that it is an animal welfare group.
Rodriguez claims that Exposito helped to hide Rivas, presumably in her home, following the drone attack.
Rodriguez said that Exposito’s alleged involvement in the plot was evidence that the regime’s enemies “use non-governmental organization to finance terrorism” in Venezuela.
FPV: Exposito Took Care of Oscar Perez’s Dog
Alfonso Romero, the head of the Foro Penal Venezolano (FPV), revealed on Twitter early this morning that aside from being one of the accused in the August 4 drone attack against Maduro, Exposito is also connected to the case of Oscar Perez.
According to Romero, Exposito was taking care of Perez’s dog following his killing by regime forces in El Junquito on January 15 of this year.
Below, Romero’s tweet:
Five Regional Countries Hope to Bring Maduro to ICC
Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Paraguay and Peru issued a joint statement this weekend saying that they were preparing to bring a document before the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague request that the organization formally investigate the Maduro regime for crimes against humanity.
Hugo de Zela, the vice-minister for foreign affairs, said that the document would be presented to the organization on Tuesday.
According to Argentina’s Infobae, the request will be accompanied by two reports, both of which have already been presented to the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights and at the Organization of American States, respectively. The reports outline, with extensive evidence, the regime’s systematic use of torture, arbitrary detentions, and extrajudicial killings to repress dissent in the country.
According to the ICC”s founding document, the Rome Statute, any member state can bring to the organization’s attention the commission of crimes against humanity in another member states’ jurisdiction. The provision is found in article 14 of the statute, which reads:
Article 14. Referral of a situation by a State Party:
1. A State Party may refer to the Prosecutor a situation in which one or more crimes within the jurisdiction of the Court appear to have been committed requesting the Prosecutor to investigate the situation for the purpose of determining whether one or more specific persons should be charged with the commission of such crimes.
2. As far as possible, a referral shall specify the relevant circumstances and be accompanied by such supporting documentation as is available to the State referring the situation.
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