The Attorney General of the Republic claimed that the young man had faked his death by posting a photo in which he had put tomato sauce on his forehead. But Victims Monitor confirmed that this claim is false: “Pimpina” was indeed killed in the western Caracas neighborhood.
Author: Victim Monitor
The death of “Pimpina” was spread through social media on the night of July 29, when post-election protests took over the streets, avenues and neighborhoods of Caracas and different areas of the country. Carapita (Antímano parish), the popular area where the young man lived in the Venezuelan capital, was not indifferent to the mobilizations. Several videos confirm that there they also rejected the announcement of the National Electoral Council that declared Nicolás Maduro as the presumed winner with a massive demonstration. In the midst of these protests, “Pimpina” was killed with a bullet to the forehead. The photo of the moment went viral.
On Wednesday the 31st, the Attorney General of the Republic, Tarek William Saab, showed in a press conference, broadcast by the state channel Venezolana de Televisión, the photo of “Pimpina”, along with the statement of a dark-skinned and thinner young man, dressed in a red shirt, who claimed that he was the one in the image and that he had put tomato sauce on his face to simulate his death.
But this whole setup turned out to be false. “Pimpina” did exist and his name was Aníbal José Romero Salazar and he was 26 years old. He was a young worker who had left his native Caripito, Monagas state, some years ago to earn a living. This was confirmed by those close to him. Victim Monitor.
“Pimpina” had no relatives in Caracas and only his friends and neighbours from the neighbourhood had responded to his death. That is why the procedures for the removal of his body were delayed. This Thursday, his relatives began the procedures at the Bello Monte morgue to take his remains to Monagas.
The worker’s relatives do not know who killed him. However, Marino Alvarado, a member of Provea, indicated that witnesses to the incident stated that the shots fired in the middle of the demonstration came from officers of the Directorate of Strategic and Tactical Actions (DAET), attached to the Bolivarian National Police (PNB).
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The PNB is also allegedly involved in the murder of another protester: Euris Junior José Mendoza Royé, 24, who was killed in the evening hours of that same day of protests near the Venezuelan Social Security Institute in Antímano, in the same parish where “Pimpina” lived.
According to these witnesses, the police prevented Pimpina from being taken to a health center for more than half an hour. Although they themselves assured that they took him to the Dr. Miguel Pérez Carreño Hospital, where he arrived without vital signs, specialized sources confirmed to Monitor de Víctimas that there was no record of his admission there.
The young man was the twentieth fatal victim in the post-election protests that have been recorded in Venezuela since the night of July 28, after the polling stations closed. All were killed with firearms.
The Capital District, where “Pimpina” was killed, is the region of the country with the highest number of victims: seven in total. Followed by Aragua, with five; Zulia and Miranda, with two each; and Táchira, Yaracuy, Carabobo and Bolívar.
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