David José Vallenilla Luis ( 1995 – 22 June 2017) was a
Venezuelan
Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...
student killed during the
2017 Venezuelan protests
The 2017 Venezuelan protests were a series of protests occurring throughout Venezuela. Protests began in January 2017 after the arrest of multiple opposition leaders and the cancellation of dialogue between the opposition and Nicolás Maduro's g ...
.
Killing
David Vallenilla was a graduate student in nursing. Son of David Vallenilla, who was the superior of
Nicolás Maduro
Nicolás Maduro Moros (; born 23 November 1962) is a Venezuelan politician and president of Venezuela since 2013, with his presidency under dispute since 2019.
Beginning his working life as a bus driver, Maduro rose to become a trade unio ...
when he worked in the
Caracas Metro
The Caracas Metro ( es, Metro de Caracas) is a mass rapid transit system serving Caracas, Venezuela. It was constructed and is operated by Compañía Anónima Metro de Caracas, a government-owned company that was founded in 1977 by José Gonz ...
. On 22 June 2017, Vallenilla was in a protest on the
Francisco Fajardo highway
The Francisco Fajardo Highway is the most important freeway of Caracas, connecting the west and east sides of the city. The national freeways and many of the avenues of Caracas are not designated with a system of codification or numbering; inste ...
, in Caracas, when a military official fired a shotgun at him from inside the
La Carlota air base. He was wounded at the thorax level and was transferred to the El Ávila clinic, where he was admitted without vital signs at the age of 22.
On 13 July, a night march was summoned in honor of those killed during the protests, including Vallenilla, marching to the places where the demonstrators died. Dissident CICPC inspector
Óscar Pérez Oscar Perez, Oscar Pérez and Óscar Pérez may refer to:
* Óscar Pérez (footballer, born 1973), Mexican football (soccer) player
* Óscar Pérez (footballer, born 1981), Spanish football (soccer) player
* Óscar Pérez Solís (1882–1951), Spa ...
made a surprise appearance in the march, before leaving and disappearing.
The killing of David Vallenilla was documented in a report by a panel of independent experts from the
Organization of American States
The Organization of American States (OAS; es, Organización de los Estados Americanos, pt, Organização dos Estados Americanos, french: Organisation des États américains; ''OEA'') is an international organization that was founded on 30 April ...
, considering that it could constitute a
crime against humanity
Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the c ...
committed in Venezuela along with other killings during the protests.
See also
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vallenilla, David
1990s births
2017 deaths
Deaths by person in Venezuela
Filmed killings
People murdered in Venezuela
Victims of police brutality
Year of birth uncertain
2017 murders in Venezuela
Protest-related deaths
People shot dead by law enforcement officers in Venezuela
Murdered Venezuelan students