Maduro arrests Hispano-Venezuelan journalist accused of instigating alleged sabotage causing the blackout

Venezuelan journalist and human rights activist Luis Carlos Diaz, 34, was arrested Monday afternoon by agents of the Sebin, the political police. Díaz, who also has Spanish nationality, was missing more than eight hours, until, at dawn, agents of the Sebin raided his house, with him present, they took computer equipment and money and confirmed his detention. The journalist was transferred to El Helicoide, the headquarters of the political police. The Embassy of Spain in Venezuela is in contact with the family, to which it provides support, and with the Venezuelan authorities to try to clarify the reasons for the arrest.

Díaz’s arrest comes after days of harassment of the journalist, whom Maduro’s government accuses of being an instigator of the alleged sabotage of the country’s electricity grid. On Monday night, in a speech to the country, Maduro announced that two people had been arrested for the attack, which, he said, led to the massive blackout that has left much of the country without light. The arrest of Díaz, expert in combating censorship in social networks, coincides with that of Geovany Zambrano, a worker at Corpoelec, who a month ago denounced the conditions of Venezuela’s electricity system.

Late in the afternoon of Monday, Diaz’s wife, Naky Soto, reported through his Twitter account that he had lost contact with the journalist at 5.30 pm, when he told him he was going home to rest because he had planned a special night at Union Radio, from ten in the evening until five in the morning. “The fact is that Luis Carlos did not arrive and I did not worry because I assumed that he preferred to take advantage of the electricity and the Unión Radio connection by staying there. But half an hour ago they called me to let me know they were looking for him because he was not at the station. “

Soto, along with representatives of the NGO Provea and the National Union of Workers of the Press (SNTP), denounced the disappearance of Diaz and called to concentrate on Tuesday morning in front of the Venezuelan Prosecutor’s Office. After two o’clock in the morning, a score of agents of the political police of Maduro, with long weapons, raided the home of Diaz with him present. According to several witnesses, the journalist said he had been beaten during his detention. The police confirmed to several people present that Díaz was in custody and that he was going to be transferred to El Helicoide.

The environment of the journalist, who has dual Spanish and Venezuelan nationality, had denounced that the ruling party leader Diosdado Cabello, president of the National Constituent Assembly and number two of Nicolás Maduro, had described him a few days ago as a “fascist influencer” in his program of television With the mallet giving. Diosdado implicated him in the electrical blackout that the country suffers since last Thursday and that the Government of Maduro attributes to sabotage.

The National Union of Workers of the Press (SNTP) has been denouncing arrests of informers by the Venezuelan regime. Last week, US journalist Cody Weddle, of ABC, was released and deported to the US after spending more than 12 hours in custody in Caracas, according to his newspaper.

With information from El País.