Far-right street violence in Venezuela in 2017. Photo: I. Alvarado/Reuters/file photo.
On July 29, after the first electoral bulletin of Venezuela’s presidential elections was released by the National Electoral Council (CNE), the far-right activated 6 criminal gangs to generate various hotbeds of violence in the country, as revealed by Venezuelan crime journalist Eligio Rojas.
Rojas reported that, according to intelligence reports, the far-right groups led by María Corina Machado activated 6 criminal gangs to set the streets of Venezuela on fire, as part of their plan to claim fraud in the presidential elections of July 28.
The criminal gangs were: El Tren del Llano, El Wilexis, Bataneros del 70, Célula del Niño Guerrero, El Macua and Los Chevrolet.
These criminal gangs reportedly functioned as “sleeper cells” that were activated with two signals: cacerolazos (pot banging) and the Venezuelan national anthem, played by the Orquesta Galantes de Venezuela during Machado’s speech the early morning of July 29.
Likewise, each of these gangs actively participated in the hotbeds of violence, specifically in Chavista neighborhoods, such as El Valle, Petare, El Guarataro, Maracay, Valles del Tuy, Barlovento and in the state of Guárico.
In the case of Petare, Miranda state, they activated the El Wilexis gang with 25 members, with the objective of taking over the headquarters of PoliSucre and the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB).
Meanwhile, the Bataneros del 70 were activated in El Valle, El Macua in El Guarataro (Caracas) and El Observatorio sectors.
Oscar Noguera Hernández (El Diente), leader of the Tren del Llano, was activated in Barlovento, Miranda state, and in the municipality of José Tadeo Monagas Altagracia de Orituco, Guárico state. In this town, they tried to burn down the town hall.
The Niño Guerrero cell, led by Héctor Guerrero Flores, operated in Maracay (Aragua state) through his partners in Los Chevrolet, who operate in the San Vicente industrial zone.
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In this area, a member of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), Mayaury Silva (49), was murdered, after a hooded man shot her seven times while she was heading to her residence.
The Venezuelan journalist pointed out that these cells of criminal gangs were explicitly incited through social media platforms “to kill Chavistas, including President Nicolás Maduro.”
Furthermore, the objective of these criminals was to destroy public and private property and followers of Chavismo to neutralize Chavista grassroots organization and mobilization in the framework of a planned coup d’état.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/DZ
