Juan Guaidó, recognized as interim president of the Republic by 50 countries, rejected on Tuesday the arrest of four Voluntad Popular activists by Polichacao officials.
Carlos Maneiro, Luis Martínez, Yorker Godoy and Argelia Robaina were carrying out a commemorative activity on the fifth anniversary of the murder of Neomar Lander, on Libertador Avenue, Caracas, when they were arrested.
«The dictatorship intends to erase its crimes. Carlos Maneiro, Luis Martínez, Yorker Godoy and Argelia Robaina are being held for peacefully paying homage to a martyr, in the place where he was assassinated by the dictatorship. To continue fighting is a duty, not a crime,” Guaidó wrote in Twitter.
And he added: «They will not assassinate his memory, nor that of Venezuela, for that we pay tribute. Neomar was murdered by the dictatorship and today we continue to fight. Historical memory is to guarantee NON-REPETITION and the search for justice. The dictatorship will not be able to make so much pain invisible or erase the crimes of it ».
The assassination of Neomar Lander
Neomar Lander, 17 years old, was murdered in June 2017 while participating in an anti-government protest in the Chacao municipality of Miranda state. The young man received an impact from an explosive object in the chest.
The teenager, who grew up in Guarenas, went to all the protests in rejection of the government of Nicolás Maduro and the crisis. At that time he had just graduated from high school. He had not started a university career because he hoped to seek a better future outside the country.
The young man’s face was replicated on the walls of Caracas, also in other Latin American countries such as Nicaragua, accompanied by his words: “The struggle of a few is worth the future of many.”
The dictatorship intends to erase its crimes, committing new ones. Carlos Maneiro, Luis Martinez, Yorker Godoy and Argelia Robaina are being held for peacefully paying homage to a martyr, in the place where he was assassinated by the dictatorship.
To continue fighting is a duty, not a crime.
– Juan Guaidó (@jguaido) June 7, 2022
#ATTENTION: Around 12 noon on Av Libertador after carrying out a commemorative activity for the fallen in the place where Nehomar Lander died, the young people Jholbert Godoy, Argelia Rovaina, Carlos Maneiro and Luis Martinez were arbitrarily detained by POLICHACAO.
– Adriana Pichardo B (@apichardob) June 7, 2022