Political clashes in parts of Venezuela escalated this weekend with the arrest of the mayor of Caracas, Antonio Ledezma. Ledezma is accused of being part of a foreign plot to force the current administration from power. The arrest and the authorities’ allegations have provoked a lively debate online, where Internet users have traded words of support and outrage.
Supporters of Nicolás Maduro‘s Chavista government pointed to the history of alliances and criminal accusations in Ledezma’s political career, saying his arrest is justified for reasons beyond the current charges. Many celebrate the arrest of such a visible political figure seen publicly as an symbol of the corruption of political parties.
According to JM Álvarez:
The President calls on people to resist and announces he’s not going to resign. He will also capture this criminal in a gesture well received by Chávez supporters and for moderate opposers who don’t want a civil war, who don’t want to see this “monster” (as the people call him) become their political chief. Maduro has good reason to express his distrust with respect to this professional politician—this administrative police chief from a rotten regime and an agent of [American] imperialism, who embodies all the filth of an immoral traitor group living off a petroleum-rich country, while 80 percent of the people are stuck between poverty and misery.
Internet opponents demand the mayor’s release through various online campaigns such as #LiberanALedezma. They accuse the governor of circumventing the law (not for the first time) and creating more political prisoners in the country. The mayor’s capture reminds many of the list of people who have been and continue to be held in prison without clear legal proceedings. One of the opposing figures on the list is Leopoldo López, who has been in prison for a year for “intellectually participating” in the violent riots of the 2014 protests.
Even so, the mayor’s arrest begs questions about the government’s lawfulness and the radicalization of the law against the opposition. Many online are concerned about the reluctance of police groups to end their competition because of legal and constitutional demands.
Hugo Pérez Hernáis from Venezuela Conspiracy Theories reflects on Maduro’s political motives and their possible meaning—among them, a creating a diversion from the country’s economic hardship. It highlights how government spokespeople have drawn up a plan already set in place with convincing evidence of their supported decisions, but the evidence will be presented later:
On the Prodavinci website, various opinion writers proposed analyzing the issues that are sometimes left out of discussions. José Ignacio Hernández presents arguments that question if Ledezma’s arrest would be considered constitutional and advises “the case should be assessed in a wider context with international standards of the protection of human rights,” a point that should worry Chavistas and oppositionists alike:
Francisco Toro from Caracas Chronicles argues that this series of events shows how Nicolás Maduro’s government isn’t falling, but is actually growing stronger:
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