Venezuela’s socialist regime is reportedly using the Marxist National Liberation Army (ELN) terrorist organization and the transnational criminal organization Torren de Aragua to persecute Venezuelan dissidents abroad. report Colombia’s Caracol TV reported on Sunday.
Caracol criticizes the regime of dictator Nicolas Maduro through secret documents allegedly obtained by the broadcaster (including documents from the US Southern Command (SOUTHCOM), a Pentagon branch operating in Latin America) and the Venezuelan General Directorate. A report was prepared based on the testimony. Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) carries out illegal operations on the territory of Colombia and Chile with the support of members of the ELN and Torren de Aragua.
Political policies of the Maduro regime in Colombia and Chile 👉 https://t.co/wVGm5kBuU6 pic.twitter.com/zdY10miap2
— Noticias Caracol (@NoticiasCaracol) April 1, 2024
Caracol said the documents show that the DGCIM has been operating in Colombia “for years” in coordination with the ELN and other criminal organizations to access national security secrets and persecute opponents of the socialist regime. He claimed that it shows.
Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Granco, head of the DGCIM’s special affairs unit, is said to be the “brains” of the regime’s illegal operations on foreign soil.America authorized Granco, also known as the “Black Hand” and “The Man with a Thousand Faces,” is the leader of three others who spoke out against systematic human rights abuses and repression of dissent in Venezuela in 2019 under former President Donald Trump’s administration. He worked alongside DGCIM leaders.
2022 United Nations Independent Fact-Finding Mission on Venezuela identified DGCIM is one of the repressive institutions used by the Maduro regime to carry out crimes against humanity against dissidents, including extreme torture and sexual violence to punish dissidents who disagree with the government. , and the use of other cruel, inhuman and degrading acts. .
The attempt to silence socialist opponents abroad is part of the administration’s plan to dismantle an alleged conspiracy to overthrow Maduro. Colombian news channels have identified three dissidents targeted in Colombia and Chile.
The three dissidents in question allegedly met in Cúcuta, Colombia, on December 13, 2023, to discuss how to overthrow Maduro with ideas that were more “fanciful” than reality, and reportedly Not armed. The group reportedly had no knowledge that the regime knew of their intentions.
The first target was Aniello Heredia, a former captain in the Venezuelan army. report Like when I was kidnapped in December. Caracol reported that ELN terrorists abducted Heredia near Cucuta and handed him over to Maduro’s regime’s intelligence forces.
On January 22, Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab said: announced Heredia reportedly “confessed” to his intention to assassinate Maduro. The alleged plot is part of what Maduro’s regime calls “Operation White Bracelet,” an alleged plot that called for a brutal crackdown on dissidents known as “The White Bracelet.”bolivar’s anger”
Caracol said Heredia’s family dismissed the “confession” as a coerced confession and claimed that Heredia appeared to have taken drugs at the time.
The second target was Ronald Ojeda, a former Venezuelan lieutenant living in exile in Chile. Ojeda was abducted from her home in Chile on February 21 by men pretending to be Chilean immigration police officers.his body is found Ten days later, he was buried in a suitcase under a concrete structure in the Santiago metropolitan area.
Police and forensic investigators work in the area where the body of former Venezuelan military officer Rolando Ojeda was found in Santiago, Chile, on March 1, 2024. Prosecutor Hector Barros said Ojeda’s body was abducted eight days ago and buried in a grave. A dense illegal housing area on the outskirts of Santiago. (Esteban Felix/AP)
Chilean authorities have linked the suspects involved in the kidnapping and murder to the Torren de Aragua organization. One of the suspects, Walter de Jesus Rodríguez Pérez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan national, worked Because of the Maduro regime in 2015.
The third target identified was Venezuelan student leader Pablo Parada, who Caracol said was the victim of a recent attack in Bogotá by a local criminal gang allegedly working for the Maduro regime. Ta.
Mr. Parada told Mr. Caracol that he was chased by six men late at night on March 10 as he and his acquaintances headed home. According to his testimony, the men chased Parada, but Parada was able to escape them by jumping down a ravine.
“One of the guys who was following us, excuse me for a second, he said, ‘Please stop.’ mama gebo [a Venezuelan slang slur that means “co**su**er”], Stop! ‘Of course, this is a very Venezuelan word, and with this word I am directly criticizing the regime of Nicolás Maduro,” Parada said.
Venezuelan Attorney General Tarek William Saab became the first member of Maduro’s government to formally respond to Caracol’s report.serve condemned It called the report on Monday “fluffy” and “rubbish” and said it was part of a “media operation” to discredit the regime’s efforts to protect President Maduro, who is seen as a legitimate threat.
Hours later, dictator President Nicolas Maduro personally criticized Caracol, declaring him “anti-Venezuela” and “anti-Bolivarian” on the latest episode of his weekly Monday night TV show. con maduro mas (“With Maduro Plus”).
“Today at noon, I was watching the press conference of the Attorney General of the Republic, who responded based on law and truth,” President Maduro said. “Let’s hope it evolves. Truths always emerge and they remain — as always, they remain in the dustbin of history. Simple.”
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan writer who chronicles life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.
