Published at: 02/07/2025 09:00 PM
(POINT, July 17, 1973)
- On June 29, 1973, during the first administration of Rafael Caldera (1969-1974), a commission from the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DIM) kidnapped Noel Rodríguez Mata, 27, and then disappeared for more than four decades.
- The arrest occurred on Universidad Avenue, minutes after making a contact on the corner of La Pelota.
- From there he was secretly transferred to Cocollar, Edo. Sucre, headquarters of the Theater of Operations No. 4 (TO4), where he was tortured and murdered on August 6, 1973.
- The remains of the young man, an economics student at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) and leader of the Red Flag, were hidden by state security forces in a niche in the General Cemetery of the South, where they remained under false identification for more than 40 years.
- After 40 years, thanks to the tireless search for their mother, Zeneida Mata de Rodríguez and the procedural speed promoted by President Hugo Chávez, their remains were found, so they were able to receive a posthumous tribute from their friends and family.
- Zenaida Mata de Rodríguez presided over the event in the company of the President of the National Assembly Diosdado Cabello Rondón.
- Since the arrival of Commander Hugo Chávez to the government (1998-2013), he has carried out a series of relevant actions to rescue and vindicate the victims of State terrorism practiced by the governments of the Fourth Republic (1958-1998).
- To respond to 40 years of impunity, Commander Chávez enacted the Law to Punish Crimes, Disappearances, Torture and Human Rights Violations, part of those four decades of terror.
- On February 12, 2013, the remains of Noel Rodríguez Mata were transferred to the city of El Tigre, edo. Anzoátegui, where they were received by the then governor of that entity, Aristobulo Istúriz.
- Among some of the students, peasants and left-wing leaders “pacified” by Caldera are:
Luis Alberto Hernández
Benito Torres
Rufino Urquiola
Carlos Reyna
Argelio José Reyna
Aurelio Trocett Calma
Ángel Aguilar Serradas
Rafael Bottini Marín
Ramón Antonio Álvarez
Francisco Hernández Cruz
Luis Eduardo Cols
José Elio Sánchez
Francisco Acosta Garcia
Marvin Sanchez Ramírez
Luís G. Garcia Jimenez
Mazo News Team