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Wilmer Azuaje

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Wilmer Azuaje
National Assembly deputy
In office
5 January 2006 – 5 January 2011
ConstituencyBarinas state
Personal details
Born1977
Barinas, Barinas state, Venezuela
Political partyJustice First (actual)
Progressive Advance (2012-2014)
Gente Emergente (resigned)
PSUV (expelled)
MVR (dissolved)
OccupationPolitician

Wilmer José Azuaje Cordero (born 1977) is a Venezuelan politician that has served as deputy in the National Assembly for Barinas state and as a Barinas regional deputy.

Career

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He began his political life in the Fifth Republic Movement (MVR), political party that led Hugo Chávez to the presidency in 1998. He was elected as a deputy for the National Assembly 2005 parliamentary elections as a MVR candidate. In 2007, Azuaje joined the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) after the merger of the MVR into this new organization.

Complaints against the Chávez family

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Starting in 2005, a confrontation began between Wilmer Azuaje and Argenis Chávez, Hugo Chávez's brother, which led Azuaje to request protection measures for himself and his family before a tribunal, due to reported threats made by Argenis Chávez against Azuaje. National newspapers reported that Argenis himself intended to select the candidates for the National Assembly election to be held that year, but finally the MVR National Tactical Command decided in favor of Wilmer Azuaje.[1]

On 26 March 2008, Azuaje presented before the National Assembly a series of complaints against the Chávez family in the Barinas state, reflecting the new properties reportedly acquired by the family of President Chávez, especially of Argenis and Narciso Chávez, with money coming from reported acts of corruption. After the complaints, Hugo de los Reyes Chávez, father of Hugo Chávez and then governor of Barinas, requested before the National Assembly the waiver of Azuaje's parliamentary immunity, but this was not discussed. The Assembly Speaker, Cilia Flores, announced that not only the case would be investigated but also Azuaje himself for reportedly having carried out an multimillionaire campaign for the presentation of the complaints. This increased the friction between Azuaje and the rest of the pro-government deputies, who immediately dismissed his complaints.[2]

These events made Azuaje nationally known by appearing insistently in Venezuelan newspapers and the media in general. In April 2008, he made an act in Cameja Street in the city of Barinas, to announce his candidacy for the governorship of Barinas. During the mass act, shots were fired in which two of Azuaje's followers were killed, and Azuaje blamed Argenis Chávez directly.

Opposition

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After the electoral measurements for the governorship of Barinas, Wilmer Azuaje, fulfills with Frenchi Díaz [es] and Julio César Reyes [es], two opposition politicians, the pact made in January 2008, which established the nomination of only one of them to dispute the position of the regional executive against Adán or Argenis Chávez, brothers of the President and of which one of the two was supposed to be the official candidate. Therefore, Azuaje was leaning towards the mayoralty of Barinas.[3] That same month, on 30 April, the PSUV announced the expulsion of Wilmer Azuaje, for advancing his candidacy for the regional elections, although in practice he had already been distanced from the party for months.

Azuaje immediately joined the Gente Emergente party, where Julio César Reyes was already a member, shortly thereafter this organization was expelled from the ruling Patriotic Alliance coalition. On 23 November 2008, regional elections were held, being soundly defeated by Abundio Sánchez, PSUV candidate.[4]

At the end of 2008, a constitutional amendment project of Article 230 of the Venezuelan Constitution was presented by pro-government factors, whose intention is to allow the possibility of running presidential candidates continuously. Azuaje declared himself against it and, along with other dissident deputies, created a small political group called Frente Amplio Nacional (National Broad Front) against the amendment.[5][6] In January 2009, he separated from Gente Emergente and formed a new parliamentary fraction called Frente Popular Humanista, together with four other dissident deputies.

In March 2009, Néstor Izarra Colmenares and Narciso Chávez filed an action against Azuaje for alleged continuous aggravated defamation. As such, the Plenary Chamber of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice would decide whether to strip the deputy of his parliamentary immunity.[7]

On March 25, 2010 Azuaje was detained by the Scientific, Criminal and Criminalistic Investigations Corps (CICPC) when he was about to pick up a vehicle that was being held at the police headquarters since they tried to approach him for an alleged attack in October 2009. The police force argued at that time that it had been an attempted robbery. When the deputy approached the CICPC headquarters to pick up his vehicle, he was accused of assaulting a police officer and was detained. His parliamentary immunity was withdrawn by the National Assembly at the request of the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, with 105 votes in favor and 6 against out of 167 possible votes, being the votes in favor of deputies of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela and the Communist Party, whilePodemos and the Popular Humanist Front rejected the motion and the Fatherland for All party abstained. Ismael García, leader of the Podemos party, in defense of his colleague, declared in the National Assembly that what was said about the flagrancy of the crime by the head of the judicial police, Wilmer Flores Trosel, were lies, and accused the Minister of the Interior, Tareck El Aissami, of lending himself to mount a hoax in the same line and with the same arguments of the Nixon Moreno case, saying "We are facing an express trial, they have violated all the rights of the deputy to put a file on him."[8][9]

Azuaje's parliamentary immunity was officially lifted on 5 April 2010.[10][11]

He was served as president of the Venezuelan Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights,[12] and during the Venezuelan presidential crisis he was appointed as Juan Guaidó's coordinator for expanding complaints of human rights violation.[13] In October 2020, he submitted a report to the International Criminal Court and to the European Parliament as well that argues that there was not an armed confrontation during the May 2020 Operation Gideon and that its participants were set up, tortured and extrajudicially executed.[14][15][16][17]

Political persecution

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On 2 May 2017 Azuaje was arrested and detained without an arrest warrant by the Bolivarian National Intelligence Service (SEBIN) in the city of Barinas, being a deputy for the Legislative Council of the state of Barinas. On 18 July he was stripped of his parliamentary immunity, and on 21 August he was charged with the crimes of illegal possession of a military weapon, ammunition illegal trafficking, improper use of military clothing, criminal association and resistance to authority. Azuaje was detained for over a year, being tortured during his imprisonment. In 2017 a video showing Azuaje shackled and with bloodied bandages on one arm was made public.[18][19][20][21][22] On 3 June 2018, he was released from prison with restrictive measures and a ban on leaving the country.[23] On 30 January 2019 he left the country on political persecution grounds.[24]

Personal life

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On 19 February 2009, his brother César José Azuaje Cordero, 28 years old, was killed along with Joel Miguel Carballo under strange circumstances at a service station in the city of Barinas.[citation needed]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Diferencias sacuden MVR-Barinas El Universal. 13 de noviembre de 2005.
  2. ^ Asamblea investigará a la familia Chávez y al denunciante Archived 2009-01-16 at the Wayback Machine A través de Venezuela. 26 March 2008.
  3. ^ El pacto contra los Chávez se cocinó en los Andes El Nacional. 20 de abril de 2008.
  4. ^ Diputado Wilmer Azuaje canta fraude en Barinas (Video) El Nacional. 25 de noviembre de 2008.
  5. ^ Diez diputados venezolanos plantean un «frente amplio» contra la enmienda propuesta por Chávez ABC. 5 de diciembre de 2008.
  6. ^ García convoca un frente amplio para defender la Constitución El Universal. 5 de diciembre de 2008.
  7. ^ TSJ conocerá sobre solicitud de antejuicio de mérito contra diputado Azuaje El Universal. 5 March 2009.
  8. ^ Funcionarios del Cicpc detienen al diputado Wilmer Azuaje Archived 2010-03-28 at the Wayback Machine El Universal. 25 March 2010.
  9. ^ AN autoriza enjuiciamiento del diputado Wilmer Azuaje El Universal. 27 March 2010.
  10. ^ Publicado en Gaceta levantamiento de inmunidad parlamentaria a Wilmer Azuaje El Universal. 5 de abril de 2010.
  11. ^ Oficializan levantamiento de inmunidad parlamentaria de Wilmer Azuaje Globovision.com. 5 de abril de 2010.
  12. ^ "CPI notificó rápido haber recibido informe de Operación Gedeón, dice Wilmer Azuaje" [CPI quickly notified having received a report on Operation Gedeón, says Wilmer Azuaje]. Tal Cual (in Spanish). 15 October 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  13. ^ "Azuaje: 'Denunciamos ante el Parlamento Europeo la masacre de Macuto'" [Azuaje: 'We denounce the Macuto massacre before the European Parliament']. El Pitazo (in Spanish). 14 October 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  14. ^ Delgado, Antonio Maria; Hall, Kevin G.; Dasgupta, Shirsho (18 November 2020). "Venezuelan insurgent describes how betrayal in ranks produced failure, summary executions". Miami Herald. Archived from the original on 19 November 2020. Retrieved 11 September 2023. Also available via Newspapers.com from Longview Daily News, 22 November 2020, p. B8.
  15. ^ "Las fotos que revelan que la Operación Gedeón fue una masacre orquestada por el régimen chavista" [The photos that reveal that Operation Gedeón was a massacre orchestrated by the Chavista regime]. La Razón (in Spanish). 18 October 2020. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
  16. ^ "CPI notificó rápido haber recibido informe de Operación Gedeón, dice Wilmer Azuaje" [CPI quickly notified having received a report on Operation Gedeón, says Wilmer Azuaje]. Tal Cual (in Spanish). 15 October 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  17. ^ Trillo, Manuel (21 September 2020). "Presentan pruebas de torturas y ejecuciones a miembros de la 'operación Gedeón' de Venezuela" [Evidence of torture and executions of members of Venezuela's 'Operation Gideon' presented]. ABC (Spain) (in Spanish). Retrieved 12 September 2023.
  18. ^ "WILMER AZUAJE: 1 AÑO DE DETENCIÓN ARBITRARIA". Amnesty International. 2 May 2018.
  19. ^ "VIDEO Wilmer Azuaje denunció torturas psicológicas y físicas en sede del Sebin" [VIDEO Wilmer Azuaje denounced psychological and physical torture at Sebin headquarters]. Runrunes. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  20. ^ "Encadenado y con signos de tortura: el video en el que un diputado preso denuncia los maltratos de las fuerzas chavistas" [Chained and with signs of torture: the video in which a deputy prisoner denounces mistreatment by Chavista forces]. Infobae. 24 August 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  21. ^ "Las torturas a las que fue sometido Wilmer Azuaje en El Helicoide (video)" [The tortures to which Wilmer Azuaje was subjected in El Helicoide (video)]. 23 August 2017. Retrieved 26 February 2024.
  22. ^ Mora, Antonio (2017-08-28). "Who's Saving Venezuela? The U.S.? The UN? The Pope? No. But They Could. Here's How". The Daily Beast. Retrieved 2024-02-19.
  23. ^ "Wilmer Azuaje: 1 año de detención arbitraria". Amnesty International. 2 May 2018.
  24. ^ "Wilmer Azuaje dijo que se fue del país porque era un perseguido político". El Nacional. 30 January 2019.
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