Ana Guaita, journalist who covered post-election crisis, arrested in Venezuela

A Venezuelan journalist identified as Ana Carolina Guaita She was arrested in the midst of the post-election crisis unleashed after the questionable re-election of President Nicolás Maduro, which has resulted in 2,400 arrests, the press union informed AFP on Wednesday, August 21, 2024.

Guaita is a reporter for La Patilla, a website critical of the government, in La Guaira. He covered the toppling of a statue of the late socialist leader Hugo Chavez in that coastal city neighboring Caracas during protests that erupted after the announcement of the results of the elections on July 28, which left 25 dead throughout the country.

“So far we have not been able to confirm which detention center it is,” said Marco Ruiz, secretary of the National Union of Press Workers (SNTP). The charges against him are also unclear.

According to La Patilla, she was arrested on Tuesday by intelligence services in a “unusual operation without rational indications.”

Two photojournalists, Deisy Peña and Yousner Alvarado, as well as cameraman Paul León, are detained for unknown reasons. Also Roland Carreño and José Gregorio Camero, journalists by profession but more dedicated to political activism.

Guaita is the daughter of the general secretary of the traditional Copei party in La Guaira, Carlos Guaita, and Xiomara Barreto, also a leader of that organization.

The family fears, according to Ruiz, that the journalist’s arrest is aimed at “to have it as a bargaining chip” for their parents, who are outside the country and requested by the authorities.

Ruiz also mentions the coverage of the destruction of the statue of Chávez, in a central square of this port city, where the country’s main airport is also located.

“The issue of the statue generated a lot of controversy and awakened the demons,” said the unionist.

Maduro, considered to be Chavez’s heir, He was proclaimed re-elected by the National Electoral Council (CNE) for a third six-year term, until 2031. But the opposition led by María Corina Machado denounced fraud and claims to have evidence that corroborates the victory of its candidate Edmundo González Urrutia.

The protests that took place the following day also left 192 people injured. Maduro has opened two maximum security prisons for the 2,400 people detained in recent days, whom he describes as “terrorists.”