Chavismo’s number 2 intensifies repression in Venezuela

Repression in Venezuela, already marked by rights violations and systematic persecution, has intensified with the arrival of Diosdado Cabello, Chavismo’s number 2, to the so-called Ministry of the Interior, Justice and Peace.

Cabello, considered a “right-hand man” of dictator Nicolás Maduro and second in command of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), the Chavista party, took office in August of this year, and further consolidated his power within the Caracas dictatorship, as well as strengthening the great repression machine that operates in the country.

According to the Argentine portal Infobaethe arrival of Diosdado Cabello to the Chavista ministry resulted in the immediate intensification of repression, with the expansion of a campaign of extortion, arbitrary arrests and persecution of opponents. Also according to the Argentine portal, everything indicates that under Cabello’s command, the Ministry of Justice, which controls Venezuela’s police forces, institutionalized the practices of repression and has probably already transformed them into a state policy.

Since taking over the Ministry of Justice, Cabello, according to a report by Infobaehas strengthened the Chavista regime’s control over the security forces, expanding political persecution to various sectors of Venezuelan society. Under his leadership, in this short period of time, repression has ceased to be focused solely on opposition political leaders, such as María Corina Machado, and has also begun to target merchants, small and large business owners, and ordinary citizens who, in some way, have expressed their discontent with the Maduro regime. way of workingaccording to the Argentine portal, has followed a pattern: extortion, threats and trumped-up accusations of terrorism are used to intimidate victims, silence them and even to obtain financial advantages.

Reports obtained by Infobaecoming from various parts of Venezuela, indicate that agents and police officers of the Chavista regime, many of whom act with their faces covered and armed, have used false accusations to try to extort money from their victims. In the Venezuelan state of Apure, for example, women who participated in a caravan in support of the opposition leader Edmundo González Urrútia, during the rigged elections, were detained and extorted by agents of the Group to Combat Extortion and Kidnapping (GAES) – precisely the police force that should defend them from this type of crime. According to the information, the Chavista agents of the GAES demanded large amounts of money from these women under the threat of accusing them of terrorism and sending them to dangerous prisons, where all civilian opponents of Chavismo are being held.

“These employees travel in three cars and go to the homes of mainly vulnerable women. They summon them to report to headquarters and then coerce them there,” he reported anonymously to Infobae a resident of San Juan de Payara, a city in trouble.

Similar cases have occurred in the state of Carabobo, where police have arrested merchants and small business owners on false charges of terrorism. In one case reported by Infobaelocal police demanded $500 from a businessman to avoid arrest. Another businessman, who owned an auto parts store, was forced to pay $1,200 to avoid being charged with participating in demonstrations against the Chavista regime. Extortion has become increasingly common: victims have been summoned to appear at police stations or police stations, where they are threatened with criminal charges and financial demands.

“The Carabobo police ride around with balaclavas on motorbikes, they arrive at places where there are political leaders to persecute them, and they do the same with traders,” reported a witness.

The new wave of repression led by Cabello’s ministry has also been intimidating, with home invasions carried out by security forces at night, often violently and arbitrarily. In the city of Biruaca, in the state of Apure, a resident reported that armed police officers invaded his home, breaking down the door without any legal justification. In San Juan de Payara, a young woman was forced to sell her cow to pay $1,500 to Chavista police officers who threatened her with arrest.

“It makes me very angry to see how they extort innocent people,” declared an anonymous local resident, outraged by the situation.

In addition to extortion, the Maduro regime, now with the direct support of the Cabello ministry, is using the repressive machinery to silence even small members of the press critical of the dictatorship. In Carabobo, a radio station was threatened with closure by Chavista forces if it did not stop a news program that reported events contrary to the interests of Caracas. The radio station was ordered to eliminate a program that only read ready-made news, the Infobae.

In addition to the internal repression, Cabello’s arrival at the ministry has also shaken up the external scenario, since under his command, the Ministry of Justice said it had uncovered an alleged international conspiracy to assassinate leaders of the Chavista regime, including Cabello himself and the dictator Maduro. Cabello told the Venezuelan state-run Telesur that “European and American mercenaries” were hired to carry out the assassinations, with the support of “foreign governments such as the United States and Spain.” Among those arrested in the operation are four US citizens, two Spanish citizens and one from the Czech Republic, all accused of planning “cyber attacks” and “recruiting” mercenaries for the plot. However, both the US and Spanish governments have denied any involvement in the case, classifying Cabello’s allegations as “categorically false.”

The charges and arrests come amid growing international isolation of the Venezuelan regime, where no democratic country has recognized Maduro’s rigged victory in the July elections. Both Cabello and the Chavista dictator are already under U.S. sanctions and are wanted on drug trafficking and terrorism charges, but this does not appear to intimidate the Caracas regime, which continues to transform the local security forces into an executive arm of policies of social control and silencing of opponents.