Navigator

Search



THE LEADER LUIS ANTONIO LEÓN HAS DISAPPEARED

Published at: 03/07/2024 09:00 PM

(EL NACIONAL — LATEST NEWS, July 6, 1967)

  • 57 years ago, during the Government of Raúl Leoni, Digepol agents interrupted the solemn session of July 5 to search the headquarters of the Caracas Municipal Council and arrest the labor leader Luis León, Commander Martín.
  • At that time, the orderly speaker was Alberto Rangel on Sunday, whose speech was interrupted by the Digepoles to arrest León, who was working as a doorman for that municipality.
  • The Digepoles acted without a court order authorizing them, under the presumption that the persecuted official was an active member of a clandestine organization.
  • The fact was described by the members of that building chamber as “a flagrant violation and an outrage of the City Council premises”.
  • To prevent the arbitrary arrest and kidnapping of Luis León, the president of that building chamber, Eduardo Tamayo Gascue, strongly protested the presence of Digepol officials, who paralyzed the celebration of Independence Day.
  • As it was the Day of the Declaration of Independence, the act consummated by brute police force took on a double gravity since it was in that historic enclosure that the Act of Independence was signed on July 5, 1811.
  • From there, Commander Martín was taken to the anti-guerrilla camp of Yumare in Yaracuy state, and from then until today, nothing more is known about his whereabouts.
  • Despite the efforts and complaints made to all instances by his parents, family, friends, party mates and brothers, León Ruíz went on to add to the statistics of more than 11,000 victims and disappearances between 1959 and 1998.

The Context:

  • The search of the Caracas City Council and the arbitrary arrest of León occurred within the framework of the outlawing of the Communist Party of Venezuela (PCV) and the no less unconstitutional arrest of the main parliamentarians and leaders of that and other social forces who opposed the betrayal of the unitary spirit of January 23.
  • Luis León was a member of the Central Council of Communist Youth of Venezuela and participated in the clandestine struggle against General Marcos Pérez Jiménez.

Mazo News Team