[{"command":"settings","settings":{"pluralDelimiter":"\u0003","suppressDeprecationErrors":true,"ajaxPageState":{"libraries":"eJwry0wtL9YvA5F6iVmJFTplSAK5-SmlOakA-D8NyQ","theme":"hrw_design","theme_token":null},"ajaxTrustedUrl":[],"views":{"ajax_path":"\/views\/ajax","ajaxViews":{"views_dom_id:blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__308856__en":{"view_name":"blog_live_feed","view_display_id":"blog_body_block","view_args":"308856","view_path":"\/blog\/content\/308856","view_base_path":null,"view_dom_id":"blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__308856__en","pager_element":0}}},"csp":{"nonce":"AdGQbWGNYTxiTMneRr8lUQ"},"user":{"uid":0,"permissionsHash":"bc8921424f39d39c64af84232b603fadae46f840a8176c1b2436a5ee00791ac5"}},"merge":true},{"command":"add_css","data":[{"rel":"stylesheet","media":"all","href":"\/sites\/default\/files\/css\/css_AJtnZDRKiPcDwZRF9CRxhLi7MMNATzBRLvIhNfcurrs.css?delta=0\u0026language=en\u0026theme=hrw_design\u0026include=eJxLzi9K1U8pKi1IzNFLzEqs0CnLTC0v1geTern5KaU5qQDy8w2e"}]},{"command":"add_js","selector":"body","data":[{"src":"\/sites\/default\/files\/js\/js_VAWKYxPX4vFoyXs0iEPUrnc99CjyNLIu_pZawjEz9i8.js?scope=footer\u0026delta=0\u0026language=en\u0026theme=hrw_design\u0026include=eJwry0wtL9YvA5F6iVmJFQA22wZe"}]},{"command":"insert","method":"replaceWith","selector":".js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__308856__en","data":"\u003Cdiv class=\u0022js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__308856__en\u0022\u003E\n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n\n \u003Cdiv\u003E\n\u003Cdiv\u003E\n \u003Cdiv class=\u0022blog-block__content__description rich-text pt-6 mb:pt-10 mx-auto\u0022\u003E\n \u003Cp\u003EOn July 30, dozens of security agents from the Bolivarian National Guard, the Bolivarian National Police, the Bolivarian National Intelligence Services, and members of armed pro-government groups called \u201ccolectivos\u201d burst into the home of Omar Lares, the mayor of the Campo El\u00edas municipality in M\u00e9rida state, Lares and Ramona Rangel Colmenares, his wife, told Human Rights Watch. Rangel Colmenares said that a day earlier, when she was in Lares\u2019 mother\u2019s home across the street from their house, she saw a series of Bolivarian National Guard armored vehicles drive by, and heard a voice through a loudspeaker say, \u201cMayor, here we are!\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EOn May 16, the Supreme Court had issued an \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.civilisac.org\/civilis\/wp-content\/uploads\/Sentencia-372-Sala-Constitucional-24-5-17-Alcalde-Municipio-Campo-El%C3%ADas-M%C3%A9rida.pdf\u0022\u003Einjunction\u003C\/a\u003E ordering Lares to ensure people did not block roads in his municipality, and to remove any obstacles that prevented citizens from moving around freely. Several other mayors who had been issued similar injunctions were later subject to summary proceedings before the Supreme Court, after which the court\u2014which was responsible for both the \u201caccusation\u201d and \u201csentencing\u201d\u2014\u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/content\/307665\u0022\u003Esanctioned\u003C\/a\u003E them to 15 months in prison and politically disqualifying them from running for office.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EWhen the officers arrived on July 30, they banged loudly on the door, Rangel Colmenares said. She told one of her sons to lock it, but immediately heard shots. Lares, Rangel Colmenares, and their two youngest children ran out through the back door. The parents said they were able to escape with their 13-year-old son, but that officers detained their 23-year-old son, Juan Pedro Lares Rangel, who has dual Venezuelan-Colombian nationality. Their eldest daughter, who is 26, was not at home when the officers arrived.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThe officers forced Juan Pedro to kneel on the ground together with an employee of the Lares family, the employee later said in an audio recording that Rangel Colmenares shared with Human Rights Watch. He said that the officers handcuffed them, and told them they could shoot them anytime \u201cbecause no one was watching.\u201d He said that they also threatened to spray both of them with gasoline and set them on fire \u201cif they did not tell them where the firearms where.\u201d They also placed a firearm against Juan Pedro\u2019s head, threatened to kill him \u201cif he didn\u2019t tell the truth,\u201d and then hit him on his neck with it.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EThey let the employee go, and drove Juan Pedro away in an official vehicle belonging to the intelligence services, Rangel Colmenares told Human Rights Watch. Juan Pedro was first held at the intelligence headquarters in M\u00e9rida, before being transferred to their offices in Caracas, called \u201cHelicoide.\u201d\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EBefore leaving, the officers stole money, a television set, a cellphone, a motorcycle, and food, according to Lares and the employee.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003ERangel Colmenares went several times to the Helicoide, but did not receive any official word on why he was being held. The only information she received was from an officer who did not identify himself, who told her Juan Pedro was a \u201cwitness\u201d without specifying what he was a witness to. The only time Colmenares saw her son\u2014on August 15, for 15 minutes\u2014he said officers took a picture of him standing beside five mortar rounds, a mortar, and a riot shield. Juan Pedro\u2019s lawyers saw him twice\u2014on August 15 and 22\u2014partly thanks to the support of the Colombian Consulate and the Venezuelan human rights organization \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/www.derechos.org.ve\/actualidad\/juan-pedro-lares-ciudadano-colombiano-detenido-por-el-sebin-se-encuentra-desaparecido-desde-el-30-de-julio\u0022\u003EProvea\u003C\/a\u003E, Rangel Colmenares said.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EJuan Pedro is currently being held at the Helicoide, and has not been charged with any crime nor taken before a judge, Rangel Colmenares told Human Rights Watch.\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003EA video interview with Ramona Rangel Colmenares filmed by Urgent Portraits (Retratos Urgentes), an initiative that registers individual stories of Venezuela\u2019s crisis, is available here:\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/p\u003E\n\n\u003Cp\u003E\u003Ciframe allowfullscreen frameborder=\u00220\u0022 height=\u0022315\u0022 src=\u0022https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0dA5plwPEFM\u0022 width=\u0022560\u0022\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003C\/p\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\u003C\/div\u003E\n\n \n\n \n \n\n \n \n\u003C\/div\u003E\n","settings":null},{"command":"insert","method":"prepend","selector":".js-view-dom-id-blog_live_feed__blog_body_block__308856__en","data":"","settings":null}]