Published at: 15/05/2024 09:00 PM

(Clarín, May 12, 1962 + Victims of Representative Democracy in Venezuela, author: Raúl Zurita Daza)

AT THE TIME OF WHITE-COLLAR DICTATORSHIPS (1958-1998)

• Between 1958-1998, the governments of Rómulo Betancourt, Raúl Leoni, Rafael Caldera I—II, Carlos Andrés Pérez I—II and Luis Herrera, were responsible for mourning thousands of Venezuelan families. More than 11,000 young students, workers and peasants were victims of kidnappings, torture, shootings and disappearances.
• All of these presidents exercised a brutal white-collar dictatorship, through the police apparatus they developed to silence and annihilate an emerging generation that gave its lives for the establishment of a true democratic system, based on the principles of social justice and equitable distribution of our wealth.
• To the joint commands of the political police (Digepol or DISIP), the municipal police and the SIFA, these governments added mercenary mafias of batisteros hired to direct and execute massacres. Terrorist agents trained in the United States.
• The emblematic mothers and widows were not intimidated by that regime of terror, they raised their voices to denounce the atrocities and truths of what happened. They remain inscribed in history because of their incredible courage and moral greatness:

1. Lola Camero de Gouverneur, mother of The Red Virgin, Livia Gouverneur, a young student of psychology and symbol of communist youth, who was murdered on November 1, 1961, by baptistery mercenaries, in the La Hogareña farm, Las Acacias sector of Sabana Grande.
2. Eduvigis de Ruíz, mother of 14-year-old Álvaro Ruíz, who was murdered on April 4, 1962 outside the Luis Ezpelosín High School, by armed AD groups.
3. Rosa Marcano de Millán, mother of Alberto Millán, who was massacred on May 4, 1962 at the Liceo Sanz de Maturín by agents of AD.
4. Fanny Silva de Guerra, mother of Rafael Guerra, murdered during the massacre at the Sanz High School in Maturín on May 4, 1962, by armed gangs of AD.
5. Francia Álvarez, mother of Lídice Álvarez, a high school student at the Fermín Toro High School, who was murdered on October 19, 1963 in Plaza Venezuela, while protesting against the North American company Columbia Pictures.
6. María de Jesús Morgado, grandmother of Aquiles Bellorín Morgado, a popular fighter assassinated at the age of 25, on March 4, 1962 by Digepol in Lídice.
7. Petra de Wockmer, mother of 14-year-old Mario Guillermo Wockmer, studied at the Martín J. Sanabria School, until he was killed on January 3, 1960 by the government's armed apparatus.
8. Ana Dolores Martín, mother of Antonio Martín, who was assassinated in El Retiro on December 26, 1961, during the riots caused by J. F. Kennedy's visit to Venezuela.
9. Cruz Herrera de Pinto, mother of José Gregorio Pinto, a 19-year-old Urredist, who was shot in the back by plain-clothed police officers in the El Polvorín neighborhood, on April 28, 1963.
10. Carmen de Mezones, mother of Alberto Rudas Mezones, 18, who was shot down on the corner of Angelitos on November 15, 1961, when she was protesting against the severance of relations between the Betancourt government and Cuba.
11. Omaira Castrellón, mother of 13-year-old Ali Antonio Castrellón, who was murdered on January 12, 1962 by members of the Municipal Police, in Lídice.
12. Rosa Rojas de Soto, mother of the sociologist and national leader of the MIR Víctor Soto Rojas, 31, who was shot and disappeared in the mountains of El Bachiller in July 1964.
13. Lucia Daza, mother of Iván “Chino” Daza, who was arrested and shot with his friend Paramaconi Laya by armed AD gangs, on January 23, 1966, near El Tocuyo, edo. Lara.
14. Argelia Laya, mother of Paramaconi Laya, arrested and shot together with the “Chinese Daza”, on January 23, 1966.
15. Aura Blanca Vetancourt de Vera, mother of Luis Vera Vetancourt (Plutarco), shot down by Digepol with Fabricio Aristiguieta in the El Nazareno neighborhood of Petare, on August 25, 1967.
16. Sixta Colina de Petit, mother of José Agustín and Amado Petit. José Agustín was arrested on March 28, 1967 and has since been missing.
17. Elena Reina, mother of Argelio and Carlos Reina. Both were victims of Rafael Caldera's “pacification” policy. Argelio was arrested on February 15, 1973 while visiting some political prisoners in San Juan de Los Morros. Two days later, his body was handed over to his relatives with signs of savage torture. His brother, Carlos, the distributor of the newspaper PUNTO, was executed, on March 5, 1969, with an FAL shot in the back by National Guard officers on January 23.
18. Ana Suárez de Pasquier, mother of Ramón and Andrés Pasquier. Ramón Salvador, a UCV engineering student, was arrested at 2:00am on November 27, 1966, in a checkpoint near the town of San Juan de los Cayos in Falcón state. Andrés, a law student, had already been kidnapped on October 16 of that year. Their mother searched for them all over the country. Even today they remain missing.
19. Zenaida Mata de Rodríguez, mother of 33-year-old Noel Rodríguez, arrested by police officers on June 29, 1973. His remains were found, 40 years later, in a niche in the General Cemetery of the South on January 19, 2013.
20. Eloína Rodríguez, mother of Jorge Rodríguez, 34, leader and founder of the Socialist League. He was kidnapped on July 23, 1976 by agents of the DISIP. Two days later, after savage torture and beatings, he was found dead in a cell at that police headquarters.
21. Elba Marín de Bottini, mother of Rafael and Federico Bottini Marín. Rafael was shot down by the PTJ in front of the house of industrialist and tin magnate Carlos Domínguez, in what is known as the massacre on Páez Avenue in El Paraíso.
22. María Teresa Cuenca de Tejero, mother of Alejandro Tejero, who was kidnapped on May 11, 1967 with his partner Eduardo Navarro Laurens, near the Broadway cinema in Chacaíto. From there, they were transferred to the Yumare Theater of Operations, where they were tortured and have disappeared to this day.
23. All of them, not to mention the thousands of widowed mothers and orphans from the massacres of Cantaura, El Caracazo, Yumare, Macarao, Las Moritas, El Amparo, La Victoria, El Paraíso and Valencia.
24. There are also the homes of the hundreds of young students and university students who have fallen at the hands of police forces in the UCV, ULA, UDO, LUZ, Industrial Technical Schools (ETI) and public high schools.

Mazo News Team