The Attorney General of Venezuela, Tarek William Saab, gave a televised public address this Monday to justify the legal actions of his office against the lawyer Rocío San Miguel, director of the NGO Citizen Control. Saab accused San Miguel of carrying out espionage work, using strategic information from the Venezuelan state and having knowledge of and being part of a military conspiracy called the “White Bracelet” uncovered by the authorities.
The arrest and immediate condemnation of San Miguel and his family – his daughter, two of his brothers, his partner and a close friend – has caused numbness, fear and indignation among many Venezuelans, as well as a long chain of solidarity reactions from many civil society organizations. This Tuesday, a protest will be called in the area of La Castellana, east of Caracas, very close to the Spanish Embassy, to demand his release. San Miguel is a Venezuelan with Spanish ancestry.
“It is delicate to have an NGO as a cover for those who carry out terrorist actions,” Saab said in his speech, apparently responding to criticism. “What would happen in the United States and Spain if such a situation were discovered?” he added.
Saab said his office had “sufficient elements of persuasion” to confirm that San Miguel had extensive knowledge of a military movement that planned to violently take over barracks in the Andean areas of Táchira state and assassinate Freddy Bernal, a known Chavista militant and current governor of this border area. “It is absolutely incompatible to be a human rights defender and at the same time take part in a plan to attack barracks and kidnap authorities,” he added. “Ms. San Miguel served as a spy through her partner and through outreach to members of the armed forces to plan actions against the Venezuelan state.”
Citizen Control, the NGO run by San Miguel, has for years been a tool for interpreting the internal situation of the armed forces, their operations and their priorities. Her analyzes were widely used in the national debate and enjoyed the respect of the majority of the country. San Miguel's work, as well as that of many journalists who specialize in reporting on military sources, has become increasingly risky, secretive and complex over the years.
Saab added that maps of numerous military installations in the country with their respective security zones had been seized in San Miguel, explaining that all the seized material was part of information “that is a reserve of the Venezuelan state.” He added that the activist had profiles of the country's current military commanders with lists of all military personnel in the country and that she had provided this information to “a European ambassador” in Caracas.
The prosecutor sharply criticized voices denouncing the existence of enforced disappearance in the event of her arrest – an accusation he described as “an insult and a mockery” – adding that her relatives had visited her this weekend. “What disappearance?” he asked.
Joel García, San Miguel's defense attorney, has confirmed that her relatives have been able to see her again after she spent several days incommunicado. “Your daughter was able to confirm that, despite the unjustified deprivation of her liberty, her mother is strengthened and very confident that she is innocent and is sure that there is nothing that could implicate her in the crimes of which she is accused.”
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