Former Venezuelan Vice President and PSUV leader, Elias Jaua with art objects of Hugo Chavez and Simon Bolivar in the background. Photo: Venezuelanalysis.com.
Caracas, April 19, 2022 (OrinocoTribune.com)—Venezuela’s former vice president and minister for foreign affairs, agriculture, and economy, Elías Jaua, published a series of tweets this Monday and Tuesday, April 18 and 19, demanding the truth about the unsolved case of the disappearance of Chavista activist and leader Carlos Lanz
Carlos Lanz would be 78 years old and has been a member of the Venezuelan left since he was 17. The former guerrilla fighter and intellectual has been missing for more than 20 months after his disappearance on August 8, 2020 from his residence in Maracay, Aragua state, without any evidence of violence being detected by Venezuelan authorities and relatives.
The case has gone through all possible levels of investigation, but the enigma of where he is or what really happened remains unsolved. Nobody has asked for a ransom, there is no indication that he had undertaken a secret trip, nor does Lanz have any impairing medical conditions. He left without warning and simply has not returned.
RELATED CONTENT: Attorney General of Venezuela Continues the Search for Carlos Lanz
Silence is complicity. All the voices of the revolutionary left, of the popular movement, of those of us who believe in democracy are needed to demand the truth about the case of Maestro Carlos Lanz. Let's put an end to the scourge of missing people. https://t.co/Y44fXLwPMr
— Orinoco Tribune (@OrinocoTribune) April 19, 2022
In his last tweet, Elias Jaua wrote that “silence is complicity. All the voices of the revolutionary left, of the popular movement, of those of us who believe in democracy are needed to demand the truth about the case of Maestro Carlos Lanz. Let’s put an end to the scourge of missing people.”
Previously, on Monday, Jaua posted a video recalling one of Lanz’s many contributions to the Bolivian Revolution, referring to the All Hands to Planting program: “It is necessary that we raise our awareness about the disappearance of Carlos Lanz, who is missing today … It is a very serious fact for the democratic life of Venezuela … We cannot continue to hide the seriousness of this matter.” In conclusion, Jaua called on the population to mobilize in the search, “to find him and to find the truth.”
Vamos con #CarlosLanzYManosAlaSiembra Necesitamos manos, conciencia y corazón para buscar y encontrar a nuestro Maestro Carlos Lanz. pic.twitter.com/1OoMOfvtb1
— Elías Jaua (@JauaMiranda) April 18, 2022
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“Carlos is a solid, veteran, integral cadre of the Bolivarian project, and indeed that makes him a target—in military terms what is called a ‘military objective’—for the enemies of the Bolivarian Revolution,” said Adrián Padilla, a professor and colleague of Lanz.
Lanz is a well-respected Marxist sociologist who dedicated his later years to writing over 50 books and pamphlets on topics including “non-conventional imperialist warfare,” paramilitary infiltration, agricultural development and communal power. He served as advisor during Hugo Chávez’s administration, and presided over public sector aluminum firms ALCASA and VENALUM, known for their leading role in promoting workers’ control. A guerilla fighter in the 1960s and 1970s, Lanz helped found the Party of the Venezuelan Revolution (PRV) and took part in the high-profile 1976 kidnapping of US executive William Frank Niehous, which led to Lanz serving 10 years in prison.
On March 25, 2021, during a televised working meeting, the President of Venezuela, Nicolás Maduro, stressed that his government “will not rest in its search until it finds” the Venezuelan professor Carlos Lanz Rodríguez.
“We will not tire of searching for you until we find you, dear Carlos Lanz. God bless you,” said President Maduro. “We will continue investigating this strange case of the disappearance of our great colleague and brother. To his siblings and relatives, our full support always. To his friends, all of our solidarity.”
Featured image: Former Venezuelan Vice President and PSUV leader, Elías Jaua with art objects of Hugo Chávez and Simon Bolivar in the background. Photo: Venezuelanalysis.com.
Special for Orinoco Tribune by staff
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