British actor Michael Palin, one of the members of the well -known comedy group Los Monty Python, while working on the filming of a documentary about the political situation of the country. Palin was arrested in Sabaneta, the hometown of former president Hugo Chávez, located in the Barinas state, about six hours from Caracas.
The British told the press of his country that he was approached by some militiamen while filming a statue of Commander Chávez, who died of cancer in 2013. The documentary that films bears his name, Michael Pallin in Venezuela, And he does it for the channel chain 5. The Chavistas released him when they searched on the Internet and discovered that it was one of the protagonists of the famous Sketch fish-slaping-dance, of the Monty Python, according to Palin, 82. The actor seemed like a “ridiculous” situation, as he told The Telegraph newspaper.
The Bolivarian militia, fifth component of the armed force, is made up of a large civic-military continent that has the mission of contributing to maintaining internal order. They exercise surveillance and patrol work in public places. Palin and his team were confiscated passports, cameras, and work instruments, and subjected them to an interrogation.
The group of foreigners lived a tension moments with local authorities at a particularly complex political moment in Venezuela, a country in which it is in force military alert, and a situation of tension with opposition parties after the failed presidential elections of July 2024, in which Nicolás Maduro proclaimed himself winner.
At that time, more than a year ago, Nine Chávez statues were demolished by the enraged population once the results were announced, which were unknown by most Western countries. The opposition candidate, Edmundo González, before the OAS and other international institutions.
In the midst of fraud complaints, a repressive barrage by the Chavista government in the following months took place, in which 1,900 people were taken to jail, including 155 foreigners. Of them, 71 are still imprisoned.
The incident, in the end, was alone in a scare. Once it was discovered who Palin was, the Chavista militiamen changed their attitude, stopped harassing him and apologized. They even asked for photographs and autographs. The actor has affirmed that he will continue in the country making the planned documentary, which will be released on the United Kingdom television at the end of September.
