PSUV councilor would be the candidate to replace the mayor of Maracaibo

Councilor Jessy Gascón, of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela, would be the candidate for interim mayor of Maracaibo, after Mayor Rafael Ramírez Colina was arrested by the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin) last week.

Gascón, who denounced the mayor and part of his team for alleged embezzlement of funds, heads the group of councilors who intend to hold a special session of the Council to address the issue of the mayor and look for a new regional leader to replace him.

Cocuyo Effect He noted that a meeting of the Municipal Council was called for this Tuesday, but it was suspended due to lack of quorum. “The councilors of the national government party wanted to hold the meeting without the presence of the opposition bloc,” reported the digital media.

Lawyer Bárbara Uzcátegui, legal advisor to the Maracaibo Mayor’s Office, denounced that they only allowed access to PSUV councilors. The Municipal Council reported in a statement that an extraordinary session was convened online for this Wednesday.

Accusation against mayor of Maracaibo, Rafael Ramírez

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.