It is misleading to say that Ernesto Paraqueima announced his presidential candidacy at a public event, as indicated in a post by Esnotivenezuela on Instagram. The now former mayor of El Tigre publicly stated his intention to run for president, but he did not refer to the possibility as a fact
Text: Ligia Perdomo
The capture of an Instagram post runs through WhatsApp in which it reads: “Paraqueima announces its presidential candidacy” that shows the photo of Ernesto Paraqueima, who was mayor of El Tigre (Anzoátegui) until May 4, 2023, when he was arrested by order of the Public Ministry. The information is misleading.
Paraqueima, who was arrested on May 4, 2023 for inciting hatred against autistic children, had not formally announced his presidential candidacy until the time of his arrest, although the possibility did appear at a public event held on April 29, 2023 in The Tiger.
Paraqueima has been a controversial leader. His beginnings in politics were with the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR), then he moved on to the Movement for Socialism (MAS) and then to the Podemos party, a split from the MAS.
He won the mayoralty in 2004 with the support of the MVR, which later became the United Socialist Party of Venezuela. By the time his term ended in 2008, he had already distanced himself from Chavismo.
He lost that year’s re-election against the PSUV candidate. In the 2010 parliamentary elections, he aspired to a deputation for the opposition Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD), but was disqualified by the Comptroller General of the Republic for alleged irregularities during his tenure as burgomaster.
In 2011, he registered his candidacy for governor of Anzoátegui in the MUD primaries and was defeated by Acción Democrática candidate, Antonio Barreto Sira, for which Paraqueima gave his support to the PSUV candidate, Aristóbulo Istúriz.
*Read also: Ecological Movement advocates for citizen rights of mayor Paraqueima
In 2013 he declared himself independent and again sought the mayoralty of El Tigre with the MAS, but was unsuccessful.
In November 2021, he was elected mayor of the Simón Rodríguez municipality with 41.26% of the votes, most of them obtained through Acción Democrática and Proyecto Venezuela cards, Wikipedia collects.
In full exercise of the position, Paraqueima was arrested on May 4 by order of the Public Ministry issued the day before, after knowing offensive statements by Paraqueima against children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD).
On the morning of May 4, Attorney General Tarek William Saab received a commission from the National Assembly that delivered an agreement repudiating the mayor’s statements.
Hours later, William Saab announced the arrest of Paraqueima by the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin).
The post about Paraqueima is real
The post to be verified from the @Esnotivenezuela account on Instagram is real. He was hanged on May 4, 2023, after learning of the arrest warrant and almost immediate arrest of Paraqueima. The media posts an image of the mayor and ensures that the leader announced his presidential candidacy, which is accompanied by an audio in which Paraqueima participates in a public event and is heard saying:
«I am not a presidential candidate, no, but the presidential candidates, hell, they don’t bring anyone. I am not a candidate. I see these few people. They are all from El Tigre. They are presidential candidates and they have no people. I’m going to have to launch myself, okay (cheers from the audience). huh? No no no. I’m going to have to launch myself. Damn, let’s see if we privatize PDVSA, so that those people can earn $1,700 for a lower salary with their commissariat, like before, right? Sure, right, mate? And the largest payroll earns $5,000 a month and those reais are circulating here. And my comadre comes over there and sets up a business and another one comes and sets up another and it’s going great. Sure, but that few people without doing anything »
The audio is real, it corresponds to Saturday April 29 during the inauguration of the headquarters of his Independent Movement of Citizens Mi Ciudad in El Tigre, and @Esnotivenezuela takes it from the Instagram account of Ernesto Paraqueima, who posted it after the broadcast arrest warrant against him. In the accompanying text he writes: What are you afraid of?
Paraqueima, removed from office and politically disqualified for 15 years after the notorious case of the mural painted by children with ASD, posted the video in which he reads and hears himself say: “The true reason for the media and political show in Paraqueima.”
Although his candidacy for the presidency was not official – the elections are scheduled for 2024 – the intention was made clear when he pointed out in the public act on April 29 that he would have to launch himself as an alternative to Chavismo and the opposition. On October 31, 2022, Ernesto Paraqueima launched his political movement Mi Ciudad. Therefore, it is misleading to say: “Paraqueima announces his presidential candidacy” as indicated in the post by @Esnotivenezuela on Instagram.
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