Thursday, June 30, 2016

Chavista Community Organizer Killed, Burned by Paramilitaries in Venezuela
Aguilera was a noted Chavista activist in her community.

Telesur

Elizabeth Aguilera was killed in retaliation for her work against organized crime in Venezuela.

This community activist and local leader of Venezuela's Socialist Party was killed by alleged members of a paramilitary gang in Caracas, according to a party spokesman.

Elizabeth Aguilera, was the head of her local unit of the PSUV, the ruling party headed by President Nicolas Maduro.

Aguilera was shot multiple times in the Cota 905 sector, a popular area in the south-center of the Venezuelan capital. Her body was also burned and photographs were posted on social networks, presumably by Aguilera's murderers.

The crime was confirmed by an official from the district government, Daniel Aponte, who said the attack was perpetrated by a "paramilitary group."

“Justice will be done, the PSUV party expresses its total solidarity,” said Aponte, who called Aguilera a fighter, a committed Chavista, and a community leader.

According to police officers, the perpetraitors fled the Sucre neighborhood when a unit from the federal anti-paramility squad, called Operation Liberation and Protection of the People or OLP, came to the area. The OLP was created to fight violence and paramilitary groups in the country, especially in the wake of paramilitary violence that led to the closure of Venezuela's border with Colombia.

Police say Aguilera was likely targetted because she was providing information to police on crime in her neighborhood.

The area where the murder occurred is said to dominated by a criminal outfit headed by an individual called "Coki," who is estimated to have at least 120 men under his command. The group is accused of vehicle theft, kidnapping, extortion and murder.

According to the newspaper El Nacional, residents of various communities in Cota 905 acted as confidential informants to identify and pinpoint the location of several criminals who were subsequently targetted the OLP in July 2015.

No comments: