If memory serves, this is only the second post where I address current events in Venezuela. As readers know, I am avoiding, as much as possible, the reporting of present-day polemics, preferring to focus on helping to increase understanding of Venezuela by consulting her history (including early links with the United States), portraying her people and culture, alluding to the way we were. That will help us understand, in as irenic an approach as possible, how we got to where we are, and, perhaps, the way forward.
However, sometimes it is necessary to pause and look around at today’s scene. If we know about folks being drawn to death unjustly, let alone cruelly, and say nothing, we will be held to account: “If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain; if thou sayest, ‘Behold, we knew it not; doth not He that pondereth the heart consider it? and He that keepeth thy soul, doth not He know it? and shall not He render to every man according to his works?”
Although this blog’s purpose generally excludes reporting on contemporary incidents, it does mean to help explain how we got to where we are; and to know where we are, it is at times necessary to not assume folks “know”, especially when the media’s reporting of terrible events is so muddled.
The below link is to the New York Times, not known for its fiery right wing reporting. There’s plenty of other reporting on what is happening in Venezuela: hundreds, if not thousands, drowning on their desperate journey to ever-elusive freedom in Aruba or Curazao; multiple reports of disappearances and tortures; threats to wives and children of anyone suspected to be opposed to the regime; corpses exploding in morgues for lack of electricity and, consequently, no controlled temperatures; the purposeful collapse of criminal law and the consequent explosion of savage wickedness; hunger; and much, much more.
I’ve refrained from posting or commenting on such. Those who wish to know more, are able to find it. But you will have to search beyond the mainstream media enthralled with noisome dingbats who, most recently, tell us that we run concentration camps along our southern border. Mercifully, such pronouncements have been strongly rebuked by a few, including Holocaust survivors who point out, reasonably, that those in real concentration camps were herded there by Nazis or Soviets. Nothing of the sort is happening here, where folks are coming on their own accord. And there are no survivors of the Boer War to tell about the first concentration camps in modern history. They too would be aghast at the comparison. The media should help here, but it seems interested in reporting only invective, not facts.
The article linked below is so low key it’s almost pathetic. It’s as if it’s written to blunt any criticism of its having ignored what’s happening on the ground in Venezuela. They can now say, “Oh, but we have indeed reported on these things.” Spare me. However, I’ve selected it because, for many people, the Times is a credible source that you can point to, should you be asked.
If you prefer reading a more-to-the point summary, this, from the Caracas Chronicles might suffice:
“Navy captain Rafael Acosta Arévalo, arrested by the Military Counterintelligence Directorate (DGCIM), was missing since June 21st until, five days later, regime Communication Minister, Jorge Rodriguez, accused him on TV of being involved in an alleged coup. He was publicly seen two days later, when he was taken to his preliminary hearing in a military court with obvious signs of violence, in a wheelchair and with poor mobility. The captain’s wife, Waleska Pérez, denounced his serious physical condition by torture and requested protection from the Inter American Commission of Human Rights, because her husband’s life was in danger. Hour later, early on Saturday, June 29th, Acosta Arévalo died. Everything happened under State custody. This Saturday night, the regime confirmed the death through statements; none deny the torture, or the reports that torture was the likely cause of death.”
A Scripture verse that was quoted often in the days leading up to and following the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776, was II Corinthians 3:17: “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.” Our rights are God-given, “endowed by our Creator.” If we value liberty we must be a people who values a love for God in Jesus Christ. We must be a people who grasps, however inchoately, that a state pretending to be God is a crass violation of the First Commandment. It is an abomination which eventually brings judgement.
Those of you who pray, please pray for the family of Captain Acosta. Pray for the people of Venezuela. Pray for the restoration of liberty and a decent civil order in that stricken land.
And, most importantly, be sure to thank the Triune God for the liberties we continue to enjoy in this great land of America.
As for the New York Times report, it’s below the photo. Read it and weep.
Source: New York Times, June 29, 2019
CARACAS — A Venezuelan Navy captain accused by the government of plotting a rebellion has died in custody a week after his arrest, underlining President Nicolás Maduro’s increasingly ferocious repression campaign amid a spiraling economic crisis.
The captain, Rafael Acosta, is the first of more than 100 active and retired Venezuelan officers jailed by the government on treason charges to die in custody after allegations of torture.
A military judge told Captain Acosta’s legal team on Saturday that the officer had died in a military hospital the previous night, said his lawyer, Alonso Medina Roa. Captain Acosta was detained on June 21 and charged with treason and conspiring to rebel. He denied the charges.Mr. Medina Roa said the captain had been detained in good health but was in a wheelchair when he was brought into a courthouse on Friday. The lawyer said his client was struggling to speak or move, showed visible signs of beatings, and kept repeating the word “help” to his legal team.
Friday. The lawyer said his client was struggling to speak or move, showed visible signs of beatings, and kept repeating the word “help” to his legal team.
He was taken to a hospital from the courthouse and died hours later, the lawyer said.
Venezuela’s information minister, Jorge Rodríguez, a close adviser to Mr. Maduro, confirmed Captain Acosta’s death on Saturday night and asked the country’s attorney general to investigate the “unfortunate event,” without providing details.The head of the Organization of American States, Luis Almagro, condemned the captain’s death, adding in a message on Twitter that “the crimes of Nicolás Maduro won’t be left unpunished.”
Captain Acosta was one of half a dozen former and active officers who have been detained in the past week over allegations of plotting to overthrow Mr. Maduro. On Wednesday, Mr. Rodríguez presented a video purporting to show Captain Acosta discussing coup plans on a conference call. The video could not be independently confirmed.
Mr. Maduro has survived one coup and one assassination attempt in the past two years, as the country’s economic collapse has weakened his grip on power. His government, however, has also repeatedly used unconfirmed coup accusations to jail and repress political opponents and instill fear in the armed forces.Last year, a detained opposition City Council member in Caracas, Fernando Albán Salazar, fell to his death from a window during his interrogation by intelligence officers. The government claimed it was a suicide.
Mr. Acosta was detained on the day that Mr. Maduro met with Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations human rights commissioner, in Caracas. After the meeting, Ms. Bachelet said she had agreed with the government to evaluate its anti-torture policies.
Her office did not immediately respond to a request for comment following news of Captain Acosta’s death.His wife, Waleswka Pérez, told local reporters that her husband had done nothing beyond discussing in family circles Venezuela’s economic crisis and chronic corruption. She said she had not seen or heard from her husband since his detention.