Venezuelan government issues communiqué on helicopter attack

Official Communiqué of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela in relation to shots and grenades being fired at the Supreme Court of Justice and the Ministry of the People’s Power for Internal Relations, Justice and Peace.

COMMUNIQUÉ 

The Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela informs the Venezuelan citizens and our brothers and sisters of the world about the armed attacks perpetrated on Tuesday, June 27th, on the premises of the Ministry of People’s Power for Internal Relations, Justice and Peace, and the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, both in Caracas, as part of a coup-mongering escalation against the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela and its institutions.

Both attacks were perpetrated from an Airbus Bolkow, Model 105, helicopter, with tail number CICPC 02, stolen from the Generalissimo Francisco de Miranda Air Base in La Carlota, Caracas, by a man with the name of Oscar Alberto Pérez, who in order to commit the attacks, made use of his condition as an inspector assigned to the Air Transportation Division of the CICPC (Scientific, Judicial and Criminalist Investigative Police body).

The conspirator flew the aircraft up to the adjacencies of the Ministry of People’s Power for Internal Relations, Justice and Peace at Urdaneta Avenue, and fired around 15 gunshots towards the building while a reception was taking place on its terrace with a group of communicators in celebration of  National Journalist Day. At the time of the attack there were some 80 people at the location.

Afterwards, the helicopter was taken to the site of the Supreme Court of Justice, precisely while the justices of the maximum tribunal’s Constitutional Chamber were in session, and while a group of workers were still in their offices. Shots were fired against these individuals and at least four grenades, of Colombian origin and Israeli manufacture, were thrown. Of these, one did not explode and another was retrieved. The other two, were thrown against the Bolivarian National Guards that keep the building safe. Thanks to the swift reaction of the guards, a tragedy was avoided.

The direct perpetrator of these act is being investigated for his ties to the Central Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Embassy in Caracas, as well as his ties to a former Interior Minister who recently confirmed publicly his contacts with the CIA.

For the Bolivarian Government, these are attacks of a terrorist nature, within the framework of an insurrectional offensive put forward by extremist factors in the Venezuelan right wing, supported by foreign governments and powers.

The Bolivarian National Armed Force and the State security forces, have been deployed with the purpose of capturing the perpetrator of these acts and recuperating the aircraft. We urge anyone who can supply elements that will aid in locating  him, to contact authorities.

The Bolivarian Government calls upon the opposition political parties allied under the so-called Democratic Unity Roundtable, upon the ecclesiastical hierarchy, and other actors in Venezuelan society to condemn these acts with resolve and to distance themselves, once and for all, from violence.

The Bolivarian Government calls upon the Venezuelan people to be alert in face of a coup-mongering escalation with the intention of altering the constitutional order in Venezuela and that has proved it lacks any scruple for achieving its political and economic goals.

None of these attacks will stop the popular constituent process nor will it impede the people’s exercise of vote on July 30th, in order to elect the members of the National Constituent Assembly.

The constitutional President of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro Moros, who today lead the awards ceremony of the National Journalism Awards, is heading his government team in directing actions to defend the security and peace of the Venezuelan people.

Today, more than ever, the words of Commander Hugo Chávez are valid: Unity, Struggle, Battle and Victory.