Robert Serra (16 January 1987 – 1 October 2014) was a Venezuelan politician from
Maracaibo
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and a member of the Venezuelan
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the rep ...
for the
United Socialist Party of Venezuela
The United Socialist Party of Venezuela ( es, Partido Socialista Unido de Venezuela, PSUV) is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left Socialism, socialist political party which has been the ruling party of Venezuela since ...
(PSUV).
Early life
According to political analyst Helly Angel, Serra had a "very aggressive temperament" and stated that he "was very controversial, very problematic, even within their own family unit, with many conflicts and confrontations, even among his own family". He also described Serra as a "admirer of
Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
, a supporter of the Cuban revolution". Serra attended
Andrés Bello Catholic University
Andrés Bello Catholic University also known in Spanish as Universidad Católica Andrés Bello is a private university in Venezuela. One of the largest universities in Venezuela, UCAB has campuses in several cities, such as Caracas (where the mai ...
where he had few friends and failed to establish a
Chavista
''Chavismo'' (from es, chavismo), also known in English as Chavism or Chavezism, is a left-wing political ideology based on the ideas, programs and government style associated with the Venezuelan President between 1999 and 2013 Hugo Chávez th ...
group at the university where most students had middle-class
conservative
Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...
roots. A former classmate stated that Serra was "Even by chavista standards, Robert was always very militant" and that he was a provocateur among students, describing an occasion after Serra made controversial statements at school that fellow students began pelting him with objects which followed with his transportation to and from campus by armed members of the Caracas Metropolitan Police. In 2010, Serra became the youngest politician ever elected to Venezuela's national legislature at the age of 23.
Death
Serra and his companion María Herrera were stabbed at his home in
Caracas
Caracas (, ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas, abbreviated as CCS, is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the ...
on 1 October 2014. The circumstances surrounding Serra's death have been debated among the Venezuelan government and others.
Venezuelan government
Following the discovery of Serra's body, the Venezuelan government quickly accused opposition parties and hired killers of his death.
Though President
Nicolas Maduro
Nicolas or Nicolás may refer to:
People Given name
* Nicolas (given name)
Mononym
* Nicolas (footballer, born 1999), Brazilian footballer
* Nicolas (footballer, born 2000), Brazilian footballer
Surname Nicolas
* Dafydd Nicolas (c.1705–1774), ...
stated that he would present official reports of Serra's death "within hours," he never presented such evidence within the timeframe.
[ On 3 October, a ceremony of burial was held at the Cementerio General del Sur in Caracas where President Maduro accused foreign masterminds of Serra's murder, with those accused including former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe and "criminals" supposedly supported by the United States government. Uribe denied all of President Maduro's allegations. President Maduro also accused "ultra-right" groups in Venezuela and Colombia of Serra's death and presented a blurry video of a man who supposedly confessed to the murder stating that "the Colombia" told him to "get rid" of Serra. However, according to '']The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British weekly newspaper printed in demitab format and published digitally. It focuses on current affairs, international business, politics, technology, and culture. Based in London, the newspaper is owned by The Econo ...
'', the government, trailing badly in opinion polls with a crucial parliamentary election coming up in 2015, may have felt the need to rally the troops by playing up the ruthless nature of “the enemy”.[ As of 17 October, President Maduro stated that $500,000 was paid to multiple suspects with 75% of it supposedly reserved for "the Colombia" and that seven people were arrested who were allegedly involved in Serra's murder. On 1 November in a Runrunes interview, Serra's father who had lived with Serra for 3 months stated that one of the Venezuelan government's suspects, Edwin Torres, a colectivo member][ who was called Serra's "head bodyguard", was unfamiliar to him.]
Others
Contrasting the Venezuelan government's statements, some have called Serra's murder an alleged inside job
An insider threat is a malicious threat to an organization that comes from people within the organization, such as employees, former employees, contractors or business associates, who have inside information concerning the organization's security ...
.[ Members of the Venezuelan opposition were skeptical of the government's blurry video.] Criminologists
Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...
found it difficult to believe that Serra's murder was a "political hit".[ According to insiders of the situation, the murder seemed to be due to a robbery or betrayal.][ Another connection made to Serra's death was his close connection to ]colectivos
''Colectivo'' (English: collective bus) is the name given in Argentina, Colombia, Chile and Paraguay to a type of public transportation vehicle, especially those of Argentina's capital city, Buenos Aires. The name comes from ''vehículos de tran ...
, in particular the leader of the leader of the 5 de Marzo and "close associate" of Serra, José Odreman.[
During a pause between a supposed gunfight in downtown Caracas, Odreman made statements hinting at the involvement between the clash and Serra's death, criticized law enforcement corruption and said to Minister ]Miguel Rodríguez Torres
Miguel Eduardo Rodríguez Torres (born 21 January 1964) was the Minister of the Popular Power for Interior, Justice and Peace of Venezuela from 2013, until he was replaced by Carmen Meléndez on 24 October 2014.
Early life
Torres was born in 19 ...
, “I lay full responsibility on you of what might happen to me. Enough comrades have been sacrificed”. A little over an hour after his statements, photographs emerged showing the 5 de Marzo colectivo leader Odreman being held captive by Venezuelan authorities followed by videos which showed his dead body lying in a pool of blood.[ Though the Venezuelan government denied that the clashes and resulting deaths of colectivo members were related to Serra's death,][ ''Runrunes'' noted in an investigative article that the police and bodyguards arrested by Venezuelan authorities involved with Serra's death were also members of colectivos.]
The presumed murderer of Robert Serra, identified as a Colombian paramilitary, is captured by Colombian police in November 2014 and extradited to Venezuela. In June 2015, Julio Cesar Velez, former députy in Colombian city of Cúcuta
Cúcuta (), officially San José de Cúcuta, is a Colombian municipality, capital of the department of Norte de Santander and nucleus of the Metropolitan Area of Cúcuta. The city is located in the homonymous valley, at the foot of the Eastern ...
and member of Social Party of National Unity
The Union Party for the People ( es, Partido de la Unión por la Gente), or Party of the U ( es, Partido de la U), is a liberal political party in Colombia. The Party is led by former president Juan Manuel Santos. It was formerly Colombia's lar ...
is arrested in Venezuela and suspected of instigating of murder. The man is also suspected by the Colombian justice for the murder of his wife several years earlier.
See also
*Inés González Árraga
Inés Margarita González Árraga (31 January 1973) is a Venezuelan former political prisoner, currently living in exile.
Biography
González studied chemistry at the University of Zulia, later completing a master's degree at the Venezuelan Inst ...
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Serra, Robert
1987 births
2014 deaths
Assassinated Venezuelan politicians
Members of the National Assembly (Venezuela)
United Socialist Party of Venezuela politicians
Venezuelan criminologists
21st-century Venezuelan lawyers
People from Maracaibo
Deaths by stabbing in Venezuela
2014 murders in Venezuela
Death in Caracas