Caracas (Reuters) :
After Venezuelan police officers clad in black military uniforms and masks stopped 27-year-old Yohendry Fernandez at gunpoint in the Caracas slum of Jose Felix Ribas, they asked him if he had a criminal record. He replied yes. The officers then dragged him into an alley and shot him twice in the chest, killing him, according to his family and a witness.
It was the afternoon of Jan. 24, the day after tens of thousands of slum residents left their hillside homes to join mass protests against President Nicolas Maduro, who they blame for an economic crisis that has left them without water, power, medicines and food.
Several dozen officers from the National Police’s Special Action Force (FAES) drove into the slum in armored vehicles and on motorcycles. As they roared down the dusty streets, some opened fire as residents fled before them shouting “They’re here,” according to witnesses. Police snipers clambered atop tin rooftops and locals hid under beds as the gunshots rang out, the witnesses said.
By dawn, the FAES unit had killed as many as 10 people, leaving with their bodies and about a dozen hooded detainees, according to four local community leaders.
Venezuela’s Information Ministry, which handles all media inquiries, including on behalf of the national police, did not respond to requests for comment on the operation. Diosdado Cabello, the ruling Socialist Party’s deputy head, accused the opposition of fabricating death tolls from police raids.
The FAES said reports of abuses were “fake news” spread by right-wing opponents. “Our struggle is against all criminals that ravage our communities. If you fear the FAES it’s because you’re a criminal,” the unit said on Thursday on Instagram. Residents said the FAES officers returned to Jose Felix Ribas for the next three afternoons, spreading terror in a poor community that used to be a bastion of support for Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez. Five years of economic recession have turned many into Maduro’s most fervent opponents.
The raids, the deadliest of several in Caracas last month, show how the government has used the FAES to target critics since opposition leader Juan Guaido proclaimed himself interim president and won the support of Western powers who say Maduro is illegitimate.
