In officialist media, as a National Radio of Venezuela, five academics linked to the left of operating under an “academic and environmentalist facade” were accused to act “as instruments of political interference and international articulation against the Venezuelan State.” The FACES Dean and the UCV School of Sociology indicated that they are exposed to a “potential persecution”, while demanding to stop the “discredit campaign”
The Dean of the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences and the School of Sociology of the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) rejected the “discredit campaign” against four professors of said house of studies, after the accusations – in official forums and publications of official media – to act as “political interference instruments.”
In a Published article by National Radio of Venezuela (RNV), sociologists were accused Alexandra Martínez, Emiliano Terán Mantovani, Edgardo Lander, Santiago Arconada and the anthropologist Francisco Javier Velasco to operate under an “academic and environmentalist facade” to act “as instruments of political interference and international articulation against the Venezuelan state.”
It was also pointed out in the publication that the Center for Development Studies of the UCV (CENDES UCV), directed by Velasco, “has worked as a point of academic convergence for these networks. From there, investigations, forums and publications have been promoted with a marked bias against the Orinoco Mining Project, aligned with the narrative presented by the opposition NGOs and with external financing ».
The UCV Faces Deanato described Alexandra Martínez, Emiliano Terán Mantovani, Edgardo Lander and Francisco Javier Velasco as “respected intellectuals, whose academic career and commitment to the country are unquestionable”
It was also pointed out that they are exposed to a “potential persecution.”
“We think that the true reason behind this attack is precisely the critical position and distancing that the aforementioned colleagues have assumed against the authoritarian drift and the policies of the Government of Nicolás Maduro, particularly in regard to the extractivist activities in the Orinoco Mining Arch,” he said.
In addition, the university authorities affirmed that the accusations against CENDES represent an “attempt to discredit an institution that, throughout its history, has produced rigorous and valuable research for national development.”
They consider that these attacks “are part of a pattern of criminalization of criticism and dissent, which unfortunately has climbed in recent days,” after the detention of activist Martha Lía Grajales, who was just pointed out by senior officials – among them Nicolás Maduro – as an “infiltrated” in leftist movements.
Grajales, who was attacked in front of the TSJ with a group of mothers of post -election political prisoners, was arrested for arbitrary, presented in courts and accused of the alleged crimes of conspiracy with foreign governments, association to commit crimes and incitement to hate. It was released on Monday night after being taken to Inof, in the Teques.
The representatives of FACES UCV demanded that this “defamation campaign” be stopped immediately and reiterated their solidarity with “all academics and activists who are target of these actions.”
“Defending freedom of thought, the right to dissent and express opinion differences, as well as the principles of freedom of chair and university autonomy is essential for the fulfillment of the social mission of academic work and for the defense of democracy and the social state of law,” they said.
*Journalism in Venezuela is exercised in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instruments arranged for the punishment of the word, especially the laws “against hatred”, “against fascism” and “against blockade.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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