Roberto Marrero
[10] When Carlos Vecchio was prohibited from running in the 2015 Venezuelan parliamentary elections, the Democratic Unity Roundtable (Spanish: Mesa de la Unidad Democrática, MUD) solicited the National Electoral Council to accept Marrero as the candidate for Monagas state.[8] According to El Tiempo, Marrero has been working for "years behind the big names of the Venezuelan party Popular Will (VP), outlawed and fiercely persecuted by the regime of Nicolás Maduro.[12] El Tiempo says he "is considered, by his party colleagues, as one of its main political operators, one of the channels of information closest to Lopez and appointed by him to be a right-hand man, caretaker and advisor to ... Juan Guaidó".[12] In the early morning of 21 March 2019, SEBIN officials first broke into the home of Marrero's neighbor, National Assembly deputy Sergio Vergara.[14][3] El Tiempo said that, because of his closeness to both Guaidó and López, there was concern for Marrero's life; opposition politician Fernando Albán Salazar died after being detained by SEBIN in what his party says was a result of torture, while officials labeled it a suicide.[22] Jorge Rodríguez, Maduro's Communications Minister, alleged on state television that "Marrero was the ringleader of a plot to bring hitmen from Central America to Venezuela to carry out assassinations"."[5] According to The Wall Street Journal, Guaidó said he had received calls from security force officials disclaiming any involvement in the arrest; he replied that they need say no more, per the 2019 Venezuelan Amnesty Law; he said the "incident was indicative of divides within the Maduro regime".[33] Iván Duque Márquez, Colombia's President, called the incident a "vile aggression" and said the international community should "condemn the criminal persecution of the dictatorship"."[36] Michelle Bachelet, chief of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), called on Maduro to reveal Marrero's location.[5] Luis Salamanca, a Central University of Venezuela political scientist told The New York Times that Maduro was "raising the government's bargaining power in any future negotiations over the transfer of power ... but at the same time they are preparing escape routes if their ability to govern deteriorates further.”[15] A risk consultant for London's IHS Markit, Diego Moya-Ocampos, said to Bloomberg that "the regime is testing the international community and its repeated warnings against laying a hand on Maduro's rival [Guaidó] ... if they can’t touch him, they'll go after those close to him."[5] Nicholas Watson of Teneo Intelligence told The Wall Street Journal that "Marrero's arrest looks like a desperate attempt to break Guaidó's momentum .."[14] Phil Gunson, analyst at the think tank International Crisis Group, said: “Maduro is essentially calling Trump’s bluff ... [he has] concluded that the military option is a very remote possibility.Maduro and his enablers have distorted the original purpose of the bank, which was founded to help the economic and social well-being of the Venezuelan people, as part of a desperate attempt to hold onto power."[43] Mnuchin warned, "The regime's continued use of kidnapping, torture, and murder of Venezuelan citizens will not be tolerated by the U.S. or the international coalition that is united behind President Guaido.[46][47] Some of those individuals rejected the "pardon", on the grounds that they had committed no crime, and "that the decree excludes military and police officers, some of whom have been in prison for more than a decade on charges of rebellion and treason, which their lawyers and relatives deny", according to Reuters.
Spanish namesurnameVenezuelanJuan GuaidóEl HelicoideClarínLeopoldo LópezNéstor Reverol2019 Venezuelan presidential crisisNicolás MaduroHaaretzSanta Maria UniversityBaruta MunicipalityCarlos Vecchio2015 Venezuelan parliamentary electionsDemocratic Unity RoundtableSpanishNational Electoral CouncilMonagas statePopular WillVenezuelan National AssemblyEl País2019 blackoutThe GuardianFernando Albán SalazarManuel Cristopher FigueraBolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN)2019 Venezuelan uprisingJorge RodríguezFreddy GuevaraFreddy Superlano2019 Venezuelan Amnesty LawHugo CarvajalVenezuela's military intelligenceHugo Chávezmilitary counterintelligenceOrganization of American StatesElliot AbramsMarco RubioJohn BoltonUnited States Department of StateLuis AlmagroLima GroupJuan Carlos VarelaIván Duque MárquezChrystia FreelandMichelle BacheletOffice of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human RightsEuropean UnionCentral University of VenezuelaIHS MarkitInternational Crisis GroupVenezuela sanctionsUnited States Department of the TreasuryBANDESUnivisionSteven MnuchinVenezuelan oppositionDetention of Juan RequesensDetention of Maria Lourdes AfiuniPolitical prisoners in VenezuelaBloombergLa PatillaEl Diario de CaracasTwitterCrisis in VenezuelaProtests against Nicolás MaduroVenezuelan presidential crisisHistory of Venezuela (1999–present)COVID-19 pandemicEconomic crisisBolivarian missionsBolivarian RevolutionBolivarianismCensorshipChavismoDefectionsDevaluation of the Venezuelan bolívarEconomic policies under Nicolás MaduroEnergy crisisZulia energy collapseHyperinflationIllegal drug tradeInternational sanctionsU.S. sanctionsInterventions of political partiesNegotiationsRefugee crisis and diasporaResource shortagesState protectorsState-sponsored terrorismStates of emergency in VenezuelaCatatumbo campaignPemon conflictCoronavirus pandemicColombian diplomatic crisisDeath of Franklin BritoPDVAL affairParliamentary electionIII National Assembly of VenezuelaAmuay tragedyPresidential electionRegional electionsDeath of Hugo ChávezDakazoMunicipal electionsLa Salida2014 proteststimelinePanama diplomatic crisis (1st)Defense of Human Rights and Civil Society ActDetention of Antonio LedezmaColombian diplomatic/migration crisisResolution 86102015 protests (timeline)Narcosobrinos affairIV National Assembly of VenezuelaTumeremo massacre (1st)Recall referendum movement2016 protests (timeline)Constitutional crisisMother of All MarchesCaracas helicopter incidentReferendumNational Assembly attackConstituent Assembly election