Published at: 20/08/2025 09:00 PM

(ELITE, September 30, 1977)

• On September 30, 1977, the statements of those who planned and participated in the spectacular escape of 13 political prisoners held in the La Pica Prison, located in the state of Monagas, were published in the magazine Élite.
• Defying all the rigors of the political persecution prevailing in those days, journalist Irma Barreto had the courage to climb the mountains of the East to hear, firsthand, the news told by her protagonists.
• Its main authors were Andrés Cova Mata, Pedro Veliz Acuña and Roberto Rincón, members of the National Red Flag Political Committee.
• The operation took place on August 14, 1977, a Sunday, and was named in honor of Vicente Contreras Duque, who was tortured and shot, together with Juan Zabala, by Army personnel, in February of that year.
• In this operation, 13 political prisoners were rescued:
  • Andrés Cova Mata
  • Faustino Lugo
  • Roberto Rincón
  • Antonio Arias
  • José Noguera Figueroa
  • Luís Calma
  • Francisco Jiménez “El Viejo Ruperto”
  • Mateo Guillén Rebanales
  • Luis Agustín Cova
  • Eude Rodriguez
  • Ali del Carmen Torres
• This was the first military operation of the Américo Silva Guerrilla Front (FAS), in combination with the political prisoners in that prison.
• Overcoming multiple adversities, changes of plans, torrential downpours and strict military surveillance, the operation proved to be a feat of guerrilla intelligence, as well as a very important step, both for the Red Flag party and for the construction of the FAS, as a new armed tool in the framework of the insurgent struggle for the seizure of power in combination with the various forms of organization of a truly revolutionary movement.
• A month after the interview, the house of journalist Irma Barreto was raided, and she was arrested and imprisoned in the Tocuyito Prison. All the media closed their doors on him, imposing a siege of hunger for work.

Mazo News Team