Former Attorney General Luisa Ortega Diaz said in an interview published today by La Tercera that she would continue to fight the Maduro regime, and do “everything necessary” to “rescue democracy and liberty” in Venezuela.
Ortega Diaz said that the Venezuelan crisis “got worse” in 2015, and that she sees the situation in the country today as “tragic and desperate”. She out the situation into context by saying:
Venezuelans are living the worst crisis in the history of republican Venezuela. The worst tragedy. Not even in the Federal War did we live a situation like this, and Nicolas Maduro and the group of gangsters who accompany him are responsible.
On her vision for her role in finding a solution to the crisis, Ortega Diaz said:
I have no other objective, no other activity or task that is not serving Venezuelans. If it is necessary for me to participate in the transition I will, and I will do everything when necessary so that my country can go back to the way that it is.
Before becoming an outspoken critic of Maduro, Ortega Diaz served loyally under Chavez for a decade starting in 2007. Under her tenure as attorney general, Ortega Diaz oversaw the political persecution of Venezuelan dissidents, including high profile individuals like Leopoldo Lopez.
Ortega Diaz was asked what she thought was needed to force a political transition away from the Maduro regime, she said:
What we still need is something internal, [like] the unification of political actors under a single proposal for the country. [Also, like] the creation of a team that can engage with the international community and the army in Venezuela.
The former official was also asked about a video that she recorded earlier this week in which she spoke directly to the country’s military, and called on its officers to rebel against the regime. Ortega Diaz said:
What the military does is a determining [and] fundamental factor, but also [what] civil society in general [does]. The army has the power of force, which I’m sure will have to be used many times during this process. I want to stress to the military that those who act to restore democracy will have all of the safeguards granted by our constitution.
Canaima Operation Outlined in Bellingcat
(Note: I recently joined Bellingcat as an investigator/trainer for Latin America!)
Bellingcat published a piece today outlining the military operation that took place in Canaima on December 8 that left one man dead and at least two others injured. In the piece, I provide an outline of the operation with an emphasis of the alleged presence of YV2030, the airplane that Efrain and Francisco Flores used to fly to Haiti in 2015 to attempt to set up a drug trafficking operation.
On December 8, a group of officers (allegedly with the Dirección General de Contrainteligencia Militar [General Directorate for Military Counterintelligence, DGCIM]) who were pretending to be tourists hired some local guides to take them to Angel Falls, which is accessible via Canaima. Once they were underway, the officers revealed themselves to their guides and forced them to take them to an illegal mine in the area.
During the confrontation, a 21 year old named Charlie Peñaloza was injured. He died later that day in hospital.
My analysis concludes by casting doubt on the allegations that YV2030 participated in the operation.
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