Mayor Rafael Ramírez was transferred to Caracas

Rafael Ramírez, mayor of Maracaibo, was transferred to Caracas on Monday. This was reported by his wife Vanessa Linares de Ramírez, who reported that they have gone more than 120 hours without seeing or speaking with the political leader.

«Unofficially they informed us that my husband, Mayor Rafael Ramírez Colina, and his team, arbitrarily and illegally detained, were transferred to Caracas. However, both I and the rest of his family have been prevented from seeing Rafael and knowing how and where he is,” he said.

In a post on Instagram, he expressed that with this the human rights of detainees are violated, whom the Nicolás Maduro regime accuses of alleged corruption.

«Everything indicates that the court that will handle his case will be located in the capital, but private defense still does not have access to any case, which makes it difficult to obtain clear details,” said Linares, who took over as general director in charge of the Maracaibo Mayor’s Office.

They are accused of financing opposition parties

The Venezuelan regime accused the Maracaibo Mayor’s Office of divert resources from tax collection to finance opposition parties.

The mayor of the city was arrested a week ago, in what the Prosecutor’s Office defines as part of an investigation into alleged corruption.

Diosdado Cabello, Minister of Interior Relations, Justice and Peace, stated on his television program With the gavel giving that the taxes collected in Maracaibo were given to opposition parties.

According to the official, the Prosecutor’s Office and the State security forces began the arrests after discovering a “chain of corruption” in municipal administration.

In addition to Ramírez Colina, they arrested the general director of Citizen Security of Maracaibo, David Barroso, and two members of the mayor’s security team.

The Prosecutor’s Office reported that both Ramírez and his collaborators will be presented to a court for acts of corruption.

The Mayor’s Office of Maracaibo described the detention of Rafael Ramírez Colina as unjustified and demanded his immediate release.

For his part, the governor of Zulia, Manuel Rosales, expressed that This action does not contribute to the peace that the country needs, in the midst of the political crisis after the presidential elections of July 28.

The mayor’s arrest was also rejected by the Unitary Platform, which considered the arrest arbitrary and illegal. In the elections, Ramírez supported the candidacy of opposition leader Edmundo González and asked the electoral body to publish the complete results of the process.