In 2011 I wrote a note under the title El ejemplo de Simón Wiesenthal (see note in Spanish, in https://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/2012/06/el-ejemplo-de-simon-weisenthal.html). This extraordinary character, born in Buczacz, near Lviv, in present-day Ukraine, after having lived through the Jewish hell of Nazi Germany's concentration camps, dedicated the rest of his life to pursuing and bringing to justice Nazi war criminals who fled to escape it, no matter where in the world they were hiding, after World War II (see Simon Wiesenthal, in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simon_Wiesenthal).
At that time, more than a decade ago, I was sure, as I am now more than ever, that the Venezuelan tyranny would fall, being necessary from that moment on to follow Wiesenthal's example, because for sure many violators of Venezuelans' Human Rights would flee the country to enjoy the product of the iniquities committed during the darkest period of our history.
And I was not wrong. But what I was wrong was that they started to leave the country before the fall of the tyranny, because even they themselves are clear that this will not last forever and they see the end of this misrule getting closer and closer. Those who still do not want to understand it are those who would not survive outside of it, and whose “Wanted” posters with a reward are hanging in all Interpol police stations around the world.
At the time of writing, I was sure that someone like Simon Wiesenthal would emerge to hunt them down after the fall of tyranny. But to my surprise, after so many years, not one but many Wiesenthal emerged, and with the Venezuelan diaspora scattered all over the world as a result of the disaster created in the country by the tyranny, they can be found openly walking the streets, exercising more incredible trades where everyone can see them.
Such was the case of the Commander of the GNB, repressor of Maduro's tyranny, who fled Venezuela after having flagrantly violated the Human Rights of the demonstrators during the mobilizations of the civil society in 2014 and who was captured in the U.S. exercising the profession of actor in a television network, due to denunciations to the FBI of Venezuelan residents there, who were his victims in Venezuela: “Quero Silva commanded since January 2013 the Detachment 47 of the Bolivarian National Guard of Venezuela in the region of Lara, 300 kilometers away from Caracas, during the protests against Maduro that year and in 2014. He is accused of leading raids on residences in search of dissidents. Human rights advocates described the former military chief as “a very tough character”, potentially responsible for alleged crimes against humanity, and demanded his prosecution in the United States, ruling out his deportation to Venezuela” (see in Spanish, Who is Rafael Quero Silva, the Venezuelan military man arrested in the US for repressing opponents?”, at https://www.vozdeamerica.com/a/perfil-rafael-quero-silva-el-militar-venezolano-arrestado-en-eeuu-por-reprimir-a-opositores-/7995882.html).
Journalist Casto Ocando denounces in his YouTube channel, Casto Ocando News, the existence of hundreds of Cuban and Venezuelan military repressors in the US, managing hundreds of companies in that country, but who will hardly remain safe, like Rafael Quero Silva, from the millions of Simon Wiesenthal who have fled Venezuela and who can recognize them:
“In my book Chavistas en el Imperio (Chavistas in the Empire) I included a long list of Chavistas who had luxurious properties and companies in several U.S. cities, but more recent investigations already speak of hundreds of these operators and military personnel living the sweetness of corruption in the territory of the U.S. empire. According to an investigation published by El Nuevo Herald and the Armando Info portal, by 2022 there were 232 Venezuelan military and members of the Venezuelan Ministry of Defense of the dictatorship and their relatives, of course, who controlled more than 700 commercial companies managing millions of dollars in business with money allegedly obtained by the dictatorship. These people are going to be a specific direct target and will have to leave or will be deported if they have not already left, of course, fleeing even to this new scenario of things that are being proposed. These people head, by the way, the list of several federal agencies according to the policy of the new Trump administration, among them not only the FBI, but also Homeland Security Investigations and others...” (see in Spanish, Casto Ocando News, Offensive against chavistas in the empire, at https://youtu.be/4Q1-aqzG5fA?t=925).
The above comes from the latest decisions of Donald Trump's administration in the direction of arresting and imprisoning these characters. To this end, the millions of Venezuelans scattered in the U.S. and around the world must contribute to identify and denounce them to the authorities of the country where they are:
“...On the other hand, the Trump administration is also preparing a series of measures to prevent the entry, in the framework of citizens of countries considered enemies by the United States, and expel at the same time people who exercised government positions and their relatives in US territory including Chavista operators who discreetly reside in the country in the country...” (see in Spanish, Casto Ocando News, Offensive against Chavistas in the empire, in. https://youtu.be/4Q1-aqzG5fA?t=377).
The above shows that there will not be only one henchman hunter, but many, as I mentioned in my note 14 years ago. And they will be very necessary because at all levels too much damage has been done to Venezuelans and they know it. They will try to “remake” their lives, as Rafael Quero Silva tried to do as a “TV actor”, but that is impossible on the blood of so many innocent people. They have had no compassion with anyone, not even with children and much less with women, especially women fighters for Human Rights.
That is why it is worth remembering that even in the castle of Puerto Cabello, where the opponents of the regime of Juan Vicente Gómez were locked up and the key was thrown away, the henchmen had the decency to let the prisoner pass the guitar of their compadre Venancio Laya, as quoted in the verse of the Poet of the People Andrés Eloy Blanco. That is why we must not forget the faces of those criminals and always have at hand all the documentation published about them -such as Casto Ocando's book-, because at any moment they will cross paths with them anywhere in the world.
Hugo Chávez Frías did not end up in prison in The Hague as was the justice we expected for his crimes, but the rest of those responsible for this tragedy, big, medium and small, who manage to flee, will never sleep for fear of being found at any moment by some Venezuelan Simon Wiesenthal in any corner of the world. We have that advantage that the persistent Nazi hunter certainly did not have. We Venezuelans are now everywhere because of them. From this moment on, and after Quero Silva, Simon Wiesenthal we are all...
Caracas, March 13, 2025
Blog:
TIC’s & Derechos Humanos, https://ticsddhh.blogspot.com/
Email: luismanuel.aguana@gmail.com
Twitter:@laguana
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