“Venezuela,
they don’t want us to turn ourselves in. They literally want to kill us, they
just told us (so)…stay strong,” said Oscar Perez in one of the seven videos he
posted to Instagram on January 15. Mr. Perez and his rebel group, who had been
hiding out in a small house in the Caracas neighborhood of El Junqito were
surrounded by police. After exchanging gunfire for nine hours, two policemen
were killed; five rebels were captured while seven others lay dead; including Oscar
Perez. The next day, Venezuelan Interior Minister Nestor Reverol
proclaimed that a “terrorist cell” had been “dismantled”. The millions who saw
the whole episode play out live on social media however, felt they witnessed
something else; an extrajudicial mass killing.
Six
months prior to his death few Venezuelans had ever heard of Mr. Perez, a 36 year
old pilot and former policeman. Those who did probably knew him as the lead
actor in the 2015 movie ‘Suspended Death’; in which Mr. Perez played a heroic
policeman, who at one point pilots a helicopter in a chase scene. That was
until July 27, when in real life Mr. Perez piloted a stolen helicopter in a
daring attack on the Venezuelan Supreme Court, making him a household name
across the country.
Flying
over the Supreme Court Palace Mr. Perez threw non-lethal flash grenades and
unfurled a banner calling for people to rise up against the Maduro regime. It
was the start of outlandish (and notably non-lethal) public stunts in which Mr.
Perez and his ‘rebels’ would make to “recuperate our beloved Venezuela”. This
would include stealing a cache of weapons from a National Guard Barracks as
well as becoming a social media sensation, posting numerous videos depicting
his preparations for battle; such as scuba diving with weapons and even
shooting a target facing the other way using only a makeup mirror.
For
Venezuelans, whose daily lives feel like a surreal tragedy, Mr. Perez appeared
as a cartoonish annoyance. Opposition leaders felt he was so absurd he had to
have been secretly working with the government to make them look bad. One
person did take Mr. Perez seriously though - Nicolas Maduro. And to Maduro
there was no question that Mr. Perez was a terrorist. Which is ironic
considering that Maduro’s idol, Hugo Chavez, also tried to overthrow the state
via armed insurrection. Though unlike Mr. Perez, Chavez wasn’t bothered by bourgeoisie
concepts like avoiding civilian deaths.
In killing
Mr. Perez as they did, Maduro surely hoped to not just quash a potential
insurrection, but also send a message to other would-be revolutionaries. But he
may unwittingly, have ended up breathing new life into Mr. Perez’s cause. The
brutality meted out to Mr. Perez sent shock waves across Venezuela and the
world. Latin American governments called it a “massacre”. German newspaper Der Spiegel branded Maduro a “butcher”. Former Colombian President
Andres Pastrana told the Miami Herald, “The world took notice of how a narco-dictatorship violates
the norms of international law, commits crimes against humanity and is willing
to kill its opponents”.
Not
everyone noticed though. A week after Mr. Perez’s killing, Venezuela’s President
of the Constituent Assembly Delcy Rodriguez arrived in Trinidad to meet Prime
Minister Dr. Keith Rowley and exchange pleasantries over an impending natural
gas deal. News reports indicated that talks were “fruitful”. No mention was
made of Mr. Perez. Maduro can always count on Dr. Rowley to look the other way or
help defend him when called upon. Last year Dr. Rowley went so far as calling
for Organization of American States (OAS) Chief Luis Almagro to step down after
Almagro dared criticize Maduro’s appalling human rights record. But Nicolas Maduro could soon be facing
charges by the International Criminal Court (ICC) because Mr. Almagro is
currently lobbying the ICC to investigate Mr. Perez’s killing. Condemning the ICC
would be foolish but wouldn’t stop Dr. Rowley.
Oscar Perez was buried
on the morning of January 21 at Caracas Eastern Cemetery. The National Guard only
allowed his Aunt and cousin to be present. “We’re not criminals. We’re patriots who are fighting for
our convictions,” said Mr. Perez on social media the day he died. Father Yanez,
the priest conducting the funeral, gave this reassurance, “They will be able to
kill our body but not the message," he said. The flowers currently
blanketing Mr. Perez’s grave may prove that his message is more alive now than
ever.
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