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Saturday, May 3, 2014

Venezuela's Latest Military Defector Puts the Focus on Civilian Deaths

A video still of Capitán Juan Carlos Caguaripano Scott of the Venezuelan National Guard speaks of his reason for defection, on April 29


Capitán Juan Carlos Caguaripano Scott, crisp in a military dress shirt, a clean white undershirt peeking through at his throat, sat square-shouldered in front of a Venezuelan flag and a plaque of the country’s war hero, Simón Bolívar. The captain of the Venezuelan National Guard placed both hands on the table and leaned forward toward the video camera. “I’ve been called to reflect, and I have been convinced of my duty as a humble Venezuelan. As a national guard member who loves this country and is worried about our future and our children,” he said, “there are sufficient reasons to break the silence.”
In the 12-minute video that went viral on social media soon after Scott posted it to YouTube (GOOG) on Apr. 29, he continued, “There are sufficient reasons to demand the resignation of the president, to free the political prisoners.” He accused the government of conducting “fratricidal war” and made a plea to the country’s generals. “Señores generales,” Scott said, “reflect, ask for forgiveness. We are in time to save the country. Tomorrow you yourselves could be victims.”

A military tribunal ordered Scott’s arrest on Thursday for his participation in a coup against President Nicolás Maduro, joining three generals from the air force and another captain of the national guard already accused of plotting against the state last month. The tribunal declared that Scott “operated in a clandestine plan” with the generals already arrested, as well as an individual operating under the pseudonym “El Llanero,” to “impede the army and disrupt the country’s peace.”

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