Anti-Chavista politician Delsa Solórzano during a press conference. Photo: RedRadioVE/File photo.
Venezuelan Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace Remigio Ceballos announced that the government will offer its operational and logistic capacities to guarantee the safety of opposition primaries pre-candidate Delsa Solórzano, who reported receiving death threats.
This announcement was made in response to the complaint filed by Solórzano and processed by the Attorney General’s Office (MP). This weekend, Solórzano, the president of the Encuentro Ciudadano party, reported on social media that she received a death threat from a user harassing her since July.
En atención a la denuncia presentada x @delsasolorzano y procesada por el fiscal gral @tarekwilliamsaab el gobierno nacional ofrece sus capacidades operativas y logísticas para garantizar la seguridad de la citada precandidata opositora. pic.twitter.com/gkLEwSwfRl
— @FuerzaDinamica Remigio Ceballos Ichaso (@CeballosIchaso1) August 14, 2023
“This account has been harassing me since July, as shown in the screenshot attached, and I had not paid attention until today,” quoted part of Solórzano’s post.
Delsa Solórzano stated that due to the recent events in Ecuador and since the threat she received “has clear political motivations,” she decided to file a complaint.
The opposition politician accompanied her message with a screenshot of the conversation with the user from whom she has received threats. In one of the messages, the alleged threat states that Colombia’s National Liberation Army (ELN) will assassinate Solórzano.
The image shows three messages, two dated July 25 and one dated August 12. In the latter, the user referred to the assassination of Ecuadorian presidential candidate Fernando Villavicencio, saying that now it is Delsa Solórzano’s turn.
Solórzano said that despite the threat, she will continue her presidential campaign, touring the country and “carrying the message of change and hope.”
#IMPORTANTE Pocas veces denuncio el acoso o la persecución de la que soy víctima, sin embargo, en virtud de los graves hechos ocurridos recientemente en el Ecuador, y visto que esta amenaza que acabo de recibir tiene claras motivaciones políticas, denuncio ante el país que desde… pic.twitter.com/JzahUrcE18
— Delsa Solorzano (@delsasolorzano) August 12, 2023
Following the denunciation from the opposition leader, Venezuela’s Attorney General Tarek William Saab assigned the 94th National Prosecutor for Human Rights to investigate the incident and confirm the veracity of the threat.
“Given the death threats denounced through her social media accounts: citizen Delsa Solórzano. We have appointed the 94th National Prosecutor for Human Rights to investigate said event,” wrote the prosecutor’s office.
Venezuela’s far-right opposition has a history of embellishing conflicts with Chavista forces and creating false flag threats to receive local and international media attention. It is unclear whether or not this is the case with Solórzano’s denunciations.
Communist Party of Venezuela Expresses Solidarity With Far-Right Politician María Corina Machado
Recently María Corina Machado denounced threats received by her political party in Táchira state, indicating that the ELN was behind them. Machado reported this just days before a ceasefire between the ELN and the Colombian government began. Her allegations were immediately denied by the ELN.
On the contrary, far-right forces have been responsible for the deaths of Chavista supporters and leaders on several occasions in recent history, in addition to local and international conflicts against representatives of Chavismo. In these cases, no condemnation has been expressed by far-right politicians or imperialist foreign governments.
In recent weeks, far-right politicians, NGOs, and media have been using social media to push discussions of an increase in violent crime in Venezuela and a decline in economic recovery. For many analysts, this discourse is an indication that far-right and imperialist forces are warming up in preparation for the 2024 presidential race.
(RedRadioVE) by Ana Perdigón with Orinoco Tribune content
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SF
