As of midday on Saturday, August 17, three arrests of citizens who were just approaching the meeting points occurred in the city of Maracay by officials of the National Guard and the DGCIM. In Puerto Ayacucho, three more people were also arrested, including the lawyer and human rights defender Henry Gómez. In Machiques, a priest was arrested when his truck was being towed away. The priest was later released, as was a young woman in Carabobo who carried out a creative protest by making a cardboard tank.
The arrests of protesters who attended the call for the World Protest called by opposition leader María Corina Machado and presidential candidate Edmundo González began to occur long before the rallies even began; as did the takeover of popular sectors by police and military officials.
In Puerto Ayacucho they were not even allowed to gather and a riot squad arrested three people, including the lawyer and human rights defender Henry Gómez. In Machiques they arrested a priest when they were towing his truck away, the priest was later released, as was a young woman in Carabobo who carried out a creative protest by making a cardboard tank. To the editor of the digital portal The Sapa of the OrinocoGilberto Reina, a DGCIM commission took him into custody from his home.
Without reaching concentration
Before noon, three people were arrested, including a man who was arrested by National Guard (GN) officers in the city of Maracay, Aragua state. The information was recorded on video by the press release Hesus Petit, who repeatedly asked the guards the reason for the arrest without receiving any response. The man tried to get away from the officer who was forcing him into the patrol car, but he was unsuccessful, while people who were observing the situation shouted: “Freedom, freedom” and also asked why he was being taken away. It was later learned that one of the detainees was Alberto Yáñez, a dentist, who had already been released by the end of Saturday afternoon.
Opposition protesters in the city of Maracay are being targeted. pic.twitter.com/VGTtPPysgw
— Hesus Petit (@HesusPetit) August 17, 2024
*Read also: Piero Maroun and Alfonso Andara were arrested by unidentified groups
Priest in Zulia released
Another arrest that occurred early this Saturday was that of a priest in Machiques, Zulia state, who was later released. The priest was taken away in his truck, towed by National Guard officers wearing riot gear. According to the version of a citizen who recorded the arrest, the soldiers demanded that the priest move his car and he responded that he would do so after finishing praying the rosary, but the officers towed him away and he got into the car when he saw that they were taking her away.
Priest from Machiques, Zulia state, is taken into custody inside the van.
The soldiers demanded that he take the truck away, and he said yes, but only after finishing the rosary. The perpetrators of the repression towed it away, and the priest, seeing this, got into the truck. pic.twitter.com/NqYnP6l0b0— Lissette Carolina Lugo U. (@LissetteLugo6) August 17, 2024
Cardboard tankette
Mabel Melendez, a young woman who participated in the demonstration on Avenida Bolívar Norte in Valencia, Carabobo state, demonstrated creatively by building a cardboard tank with words like Courage, Light, Reconciliation, and Forgiveness.
At approximately 12:00 noon on Saturday she was arrested at the rally and in the same procedure two security guards named Faustino and Samuel, workers from nearby buildings who were in the area, were taken away. Hours later, journalist Heberlizeth González reported that due to what they described as “a misunderstanding” the young woman and the two security guards were released.
Three arrested in Puerto Ayacucho
After 10:00 am on Saturday 17th, a group of people gathered at Paseo Atures, on 23 de enero Avenue in the city of Puerto Ayacucho were repressed by a riot squad to disperse them. They were members of the GNB and the state police.
The officials claimed that the gathering was not “authorized” and therefore arrested Leomar García, Sara Martín and the lawyer Henry Gómez, activist and defender of human rights. It was learned that they were transferred to the headquarters of the GNB Zone Command No. 63.
Sara Martín’s relatives demand her release because she is a person undergoing psychiatric treatment.
He was taken from his home in Ciudad Bolívar
Similarly, officials from the General Directorate of Military Counterintelligence (DGCIM) arrested Gilberto Reina on the night of Friday, August 16, editor of the portal “La Sapa del Orinoco”, after he published a video inviting citizens to participate in the mobilization of this August 17 in rejection of the results published by the CNE.
Reina was taken from his home and transported (without knowing where) in a white vehicle.
Today our friend Gilberto Reina, a presenter for the Sapa del Orinoco program in Ciudad Bolivar, was arrested. @AndresVelasqz @MariaCorinaYA @EdmundoGU pic.twitter.com/8TSv7dpLzc
— 🇻🇪Free Venezuela, Edmundo President🇻🇪🇨🇱🇺🇸 (@dominickcofre) August 17, 2024
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