The story of the young man who was shot twice, then smothered with a disposable diaper for protesting against Nicolás Maduro

When Jhonny Godoy debuted on social networks with a video in which he appeared in a busy street of a Venezuelan flag parading in a busy street against the government of Nicolás Maduro, he never thought it would be his last recording.

On the morning of January 25, two days after posting this video and witnessing a mbadive march of opposition, this 29-year-old honey seller died in a confusing incident after being arrested in the populous slum of La Vega, to the west of the Venezuelan capital, by alleged members of the Special Forces of Action (FAES) of the National Police, who appeared at home with guns and the face covered and without saying anything. They were arrested.

The last person who saw him alive was his mother, Ana Buitragowho, after having fought against the officials, was locked inside his house while his son was pushed by steep and narrow stairs. A few minutes later, only He heard two shots that reduced his voice forever.

The young man received two gunshot wounds, one in one foot and another in the abdomen, and after was smothered with a disposable diaper that the officials would have put in his mouth, as he told the AP Marvelis Sinai, cousin of the young man.

Jhonny is one of 43 people who died between January 21st and 26th in Caracas and nine other cities during protests., mainly nocturnal, and operations in poor neighborhoods, members of FAES, an elite group of the national police launched two years ago following anti-government demonstrations.

The death toll and the more than 700 inmates registered during the penultimate week of January sparked alarms from Amnesty International and other local NGOs who warned of the murder . repression resumes in Venezuela and sending FAES into poor neighborhoods to create fear and appease the growing discontent in these regions, former strongholds of the ruling coalition, where the rejection is likely to occur. is increased because of the crisis in the country.

This is not the first time that FAES are linked to lethal actions. At the beginning of the year 2019, the Venezuelan Program for Human Rights Education and Action (PROVEA) presented a wide report in which he denounced that the group, which is used for work related to the safety of citizens, would be involved in some two hundred deaths, including some extrajudicial executions, occurred in 2018.

After the recent actions of the security forces, the uprisings in the neighborhoods stopped, but it is feared that they can not be reactivated before the deepening of the crisis.

Local humanitarian groups expressed concern that most of the victims were young people from poor backgrounds, aged 16 to 42. Similarly, local organizations such as the Criminal Forum They also warned against the temporary arrest of dozens of miners during the protests and some activists warned that recent actions against youth may reveal a trend of repression that would seek to contain the same group of minors. Age that had led the anti-government protests of 2017 More than a hundred dead, thousands of injured and detained.

Nevertheless, some government figures such as the president of the National Constituent Assembly in power, Diosdado Cabelloand the minister of defense, general-in-chief Vladimir Padrino López, denied the denunciations of these murders and defended the army 's performance in baduring her that she had acted in accordance with constitutional precepts and human rights.

For its part, the Attorney General's office has not provided reports on the total number of deaths recently and the head of this unit, Tarek William SaabHe only informed during an interview with a local television channel that eight members of the National Guard and the army had been arrested for the deaths of four people in the states of Bolívar and Yaracuy.

Nearly a month after the death of Jhonny Godoy, his family is still waiting for the authorities to explain his arrest and murder, but concatenate his death with the video that he broadcast on social networks.

Marvelis, the cousin of this young woman who works as an employee of a foundation of an opposition politician who distributes free food in neighborhoods, attributed the murder to an action that would seek to generate fear in popular areas so they do not go out. However, she is not discouraged.

"I'm not scared. I will continue because I learned from my cousin. He died to leave us a free Venezuela"said the 26-year-old Venezuelan.

Authorities have not commented on the case so far, but this death reached notoriety after the speaker of the National Assembly and leader of the opposition, Juan Guaidó, met Jhonny's mother know what happened and at a press conference will blame the FAES for the execution.

In addition to the case of Johnny, another who has also attracted public attention: during the third week of January, Nick Samuel Oropeza Borja, high school student, died from a gunshot wound that he received at a demonstration of his neighbors in the poor neighborhood of Las Adjuntas, west of Caracas.

The humble inhabitants of this community still clearly remember the night of January 23, when 19-year-old Nick Samuel was terrified in a dusty, narrow street with other youths to flee the National Guards firing to disperse the crowd. who blocked the road with garbage. A few minutes later, they saw him collapse on the asphalt with his bloody shirt..

"I want it to be the subject of an investigation. May justice be done for my son and others", he said in a broken voice and his eyes still swollen from cried Ingrid Borjas, 38-year-old lawyer and mother of Nick Samuel, after reporting the death of the minor of his two children.

He stated that his son – a former Catholic missionary – was killed by a gunshot that tore a kidney and pierced a lung. He added that the case had been reported to the judicial police headquarters, but that until now the family was not aware of any investigation or arrest.

The press agency AP returned to the Adjuntas National Guard detachment for reaction because alleged members of this body were involved, but did not make any statements.

In a new series of sanctions, Washington punished four high-ranking Venezuelan intelligence officers this monthAmong them are the head of the Bolivian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN), as he is known by the political police, the director of FAES and the director general of military counterintelligence.

According to information collected by PROVEA and the Venezuelan Conflict Observatory, of the 43 deaths in the penultimate week of January, 35 took place during protests in poor neighborhoods and another eight during violence. 39 executions in poor neighborhoods by suspected members of FAES. Social

The general coordinator of PROVEA, Rafael Uzcátegui, he blamed the Maduro administration for acts of repression in poor neighborhoods and said he was looking for "instill fear"in the population because the government knows it"the dissatisfaction with the exercise of the government is in the majority"Comparing the January crackdown with the one recorded in the 2017 protests, Uzcátegui baderted that there had been an escalation of repression manifested in the number of deaths and detainees that took place in less than 15 years. A week.

About the impact that the repressive actions will generate, there is no recent badessment, but a young inhabitant of the poor district of Jardines del Valle, in the west of Caracas, who identified himself under the pseudonym of Andartes, told the AP among the population, there is a great fear of denouncing the acts of the security forces because "we do not have the right to denounce".

(By Fabiola Sánchez – AP)