Armed paramilitaries were deployed on the streets of Caracas under the state of emergency declared on Monday, which prohibits any show of support for the US attack and capture of Nicolás Maduro
Venezuela’s government launched a wave of internal repression after the US attack, arresting journalists and mobilizing paramilitary forces to suppress any show of support for Nicolás Maduro’s ouster.
After the inauguration of Delcy Rodríguez as interim president of Venezuela, the Armed Forces promised to support the vice-president of Nicolás Maduro in the “difficult task that geopolitical turbulence and the homeland require of her”. “Count on us”, wrote the army, in a message posted on Telegram.
Armed paramilitaries, known as colectivos, were deployed on the streets of Caracas under the state of emergency declared on Monday, which prohibits any show of support for the US attack and capture of Nicolás Maduro.
The decree orders authorities to “immediately begin the search and detention of anyone involved in promoting or supporting the US armed attack” against Venezuela.
“We can’t celebrate anything,” lamented a woman walking through the Chacao neighborhood on Sunday night, quoted by the Financial Times, who preferred not to be identified. “If we celebrate, the collectives could kill us.”
According to media unions, 14 journalists – 11 from foreign organizations – were detained for hours on Monday. Most of the arrests of journalists took place around the National Assembly building, at the time when Delcy Rodríguez took office as interim president of the country, reports the National Union of Press Workers of Venezuela.
Initially, journalists were allowed to enter the National Assembly building before Delcy Rodríguez’s inauguration, although they were prohibited from taking photographs or broadcasting live. Entry was later banned again.
According to Colombian broadcaster Caracol, one of its reporters, Carlos Barragán, and his team were “detained by agents from Venezuela’s General Directorate of Military Counter-Intelligence and held under interrogation for almost two hours”.
Ravina Shamdasani, spokesperson for the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, said this Tuesday that she was “deeply concerned about the situation in Venezuela” and argued that the Venezuelan people “deserve accountability through a fair and victim-centered process”.
The official warns that the state of emergency “raises concerns, as it authorizes restrictions on the free movement of people, the seizure of goods necessary for national defense and the suspension of the right to assembly and protest, among other measures”.
A human rights activist in Caracas, cited by , reveals that the regime is carrying out enormous repression against Venezuelans, with the authorities “searching people’s cell phones to see if there is anything that can be interpreted as support for US actions” and that the collectives have been “mobilized”, with the installation of checkpoints around the capital.
On Monday night, opposition leader María Corina Machado described the current situation in Venezuela as “really alarming”, calling for greater control by the US government. “Delcy Rodríguez is one of the main architects of torture, persecution, corruption and drug trafficking”, denounces the Nobel Peace Prize winner. “She [Delcy Rodríguez] is the main ally of Russia, China and Iran, therefore, he is a person that international investors cannot trust and is rejected by the Venezuelan people.”
María Corina Machado, who traveled to Oslo to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, said that she plans to “return to Venezuela as soon as possible”, but did not give a date. Although his whereabouts are unknown, he is believed to be in Europe.
In a demonstration of the tension that persists in Caracas, on Monday night shots were heard near the presidential palace. A Venezuelan government spokesperson said that the shots were caused by “drones flying over the area without authorization and the police firing warning shots”. “There were no clashes and the entire country is completely calm,” he assured.
