A death threat against the Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado appeared written this Wednesday on a wall in Zaraza, Guárico, a plains state in the southeast of Caracas, where she is campaigning for the presidential candidate. Edmundo González Urrutia.
“Get out of here, traitor. María Corina, we don’t want you in my town, we are going to kill you, the Llano Train is waiting for you,” said the message written in red on a wall near a street where people are expected to participate in an event with citizens.
The image was released by human rights activist Tamara Suju and replicated on the social networks of Machado’s party, Vente Venezuela.
The threat that, according to what can be read on the wall, was attributed to the Tren del Llano, one of the first criminal megagangs that emerged in Venezuela and which, according to the organization Insight Crime operates mainly in the center of the country, was hidden with white paint, reported Gabriel Diancourth, youth coordinator of Vente Venezuela in Zaraza.
The party of Machado, winner of the presidential primary, but disqualified from holding public office, alerted the international community of the incident and held the government of President Nicolás Maduro responsible for “anything that happens.”
“We call on the international community in the face of these threats to the life of our leader @MariaCorinaYA and her team. We need – beyond the pronouncements – real actions that allow respect for the rights of all Venezuelans who want elections,” said the Human Rights Committee of Vente Venezuela in a message on X.
Machado warned on Monday that Venezuela is experiencing a “new wave of repression,” after five people, including members of opposition parties, They were detained since last Friday.
Javier Cisneros, national youth coordinator, and Gabriel González, member of the press team, were intercepted by intelligence agents on Monday when they went out to buy lunch near the party’s main headquarters, in Caracas.
Cisneros was released that same day, but González remains under arrest and according to lawyer Omar Mora Tosta, the court appearance hearing was postponed.
The attorney general, Tarek William Saab, reported this Wednesday that along with González, the political leaders Juan Iriarte, Jeancarlos Rivas and the journalist Luis López, detained between Friday and Saturday, were charged with allegedly having committed the crimes of inciting hatred and association .
According to the prosecutor, the accused tried to enter a command of the Bolivarian National Guard in the state of La Guaira, with the intention of, as he said, “creating injuries” to the troops who were there. In addition, he said that there are arrest warrants against Johny Rivas and Jhillkys Alcila, members of the opposition campaign command.
At least 37 political leaders, as well as social leaders, have been detained so far this year, Machado denounced this week.
Ten close collaborators of the 56-year-old opposition leader, former parliamentarian and engineer are in prison for allegedly being involved in the organization of alleged destabilizing plans. Six other members of his party are sheltered in the Argentine embassy in Caracas.
González Urrutia assured this week that the recent actions violate the agreements on electoral guarantees signed by the government and the opposition in Barbados.
The US Undersecretary of State for the Western Hemisphere, Brian Nichols, said this Tuesday that the latest arrests and the “continued” harassment of members of the opposition are “very worrying” events on the eve of the presidential elections on July 28.
“Venezuelan candidates and activists must be able to campaign peacefully and without intimidation,” he wrote in X.
The Foreign Minister of Venezuela, Yvan Gil, responded by ensuring that Nichols interferes in matters that do not correspond to him and questioned what he described as “attempts to interfere” in the electoral process.
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