HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Rufo Antonio Chacón Parada ( San Cristóbal,
Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
, 2003) is a Venezuelan student who lost both eyes on 2 July 2019 due to police brutality during a protest.


Attack

On 2 July 2019, aged 16, Chacón lost both of his eyes after being injured by two officers of the Táchira State Police (Politáchira) who shot at him from point-blank range during a protest over lack of domestic gas in the La Fría community of his hometown. According to his mother, Adriana Parada, the police began to shoot and hit the protesters without warning; she went to help her other son, aged 14, who had been hit in the head when the police then pounced on Rufo, one shooting him while another attacked him after he fell to the ground. Parada has reported to the news that her son "lost his eyes because he wanted to help me get back the gas that we need so much" and that now "he wants to die, for me they've ruined his life". Chacón underwent surgery; he received 52 rubber buckshot pellets to the face, of which eight are in the left eye socket and four in the right. Primary medical reports state that his appearance has been left disfigured by the injuries. The doctor Luis Ramírez, head of the San Cristóbal hospital, stated that Chacón will be permanently blind, as Chacón's eyes were so damaged that doctors could only remove what remained of them. He spent only four days in hospital, as doctors were concerned that the crisis-inflicted relative lack of hygiene at the facility would worsen his condition.


Aftermath

Chacón, in speaking to the media, says that he is starting to forget what colors look like, but believes he will regain sight. Because there are pellet fragments lodged too far into his head to remove, Chacón remains at risk for infection; the open wounds of his eye sockets also pose a large infection threat, and so he must cover his upper face in healing cream - with no gas and frequent blackouts there is no air conditioning and flies gather around his face. Parada had been living and working in nearby Colombia for six months, but returned in late June to attend Chacón's high school graduation, which was to happen a week after the protest; she worries that having to care for him will mean she cannot return to work.


Investigations

The police officers Javier Blanco and Hanry Ramírez were detained for the attack, and also for hitting another youth of 14 years at the protest. Though the charges are for inflicting head injuries to three young people, Chacón is the one highlighted in media surrounding the trial. Parada denounced that on 12 July, when attending at court for the first hearing to begin the investigation, she learned that the detained officers had not been under the custody of the
Cuerpo de Investigaciones Científicas, Penales y Criminalísticas The Scientific, Penal and Criminalistic Investigation Service Corps (, CICPC) is Venezuela's largest national police agency, responsible for criminal investigations and Forensic science, forensic services. It replaced the Cuerpo Técnico de Pol ...
(CICPC), nor were they under charge of Politáchira, the body they belonged to, but were enjoying protection and illegal free movement without court order.


Reactions

The governor of Táchira,
Laidy Gómez Laidy Yorveys Gómez Flórez (born 12 December 1981) is a Venezuelan politician, a member of Democratic Action and a former governor of Táchira. Gómez was born in Rubio, Junín Municipality, Táchira, Venezuela, and became the governor ...
, declared that the state police were being directed to suppress the public under orders from the Minister of Interior and Justice,
Néstor Reverol Néstor Luis Reverol Torres (born 28 October 1964) holds the position of Minister of the People's Power for Interior Relations and Justice of Venezuela and is currently Commander General of the National Guard of Venezuela. On 3 August 2016, he ...
, for 20 months. The director of Politáchira, Jesús Arteaga, acknowledged that in the case of Rufo Chacón there had been violations of human rights on the part of those responsible. The
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 repr ...
deputy denounced that the police officer who shot the pellets at Chacón's face held the position of head of the Brigade for Public Order in the police force, and had an open file for having committed a similar act in the
2017 protests Seventeen or 17 may refer to: *17 (number) * One of the years 17 BC, AD 17, 1917, 2017, 2117 Science * Chlorine, a halogen in the periodic table * 17 Thetis, an asteroid in the asteroid belt Literature Magazines * ''Seventeen'' (America ...
. The officer seriously injured the youth Ornelly Chacón, also with shots to the face and head, in a peaceful protest in the city of San Juan de Colón,
Ayacucho Municipality, Táchira The Ayacucho Municipality is one of the 29 municipalities that makes up the western Venezuelan state of Táchira and, according to a 2007 population estimate by the National Institute of Statistics of Venezuela, the municipality has a population o ...
, who spent several days in critical condition in intensive care. Vera pressured the deputies of the Legislative Council of Táchira State to ask the director of Politáchira to explain why the officer was allowed to hold his position and be in charge of controlling demonstrations, knowing of his background. The
Juan Guaidó Juan Gerardo Antonio Guaidó Márquez (born 28 July 1983) is a Venezuelan politician and opposition figure. He belonged to the social-democratic party Popular Will, and was a federal deputy to the National Assembly representing the state of V ...
-appointed Venezuelan ambassador to the
Organization of American States The Organization of American States (OAS or OEA; ; ; ) is an international organization founded on 30 April 1948 to promote cooperation among its member states within the Americas. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States, the OAS is ...
, Gustavo Tarre Briceño, described the case of Rufo Chacón as "another example of an inhumane attitude and lack of consideration for respect for the human rights established in the constitution", assuring that an agenda is prepared for delivery to the
Inter-American Commission on Human Rights The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (the IACHR or, in the three other official languages Spanish, French, and Portuguese language, Portuguese CIDH, ''Comisión Interamericana de los Derechos Humanos'', ''Commission Interaméricaine des ...
with the aim that representatives of the agency "can have access to all detention centers and places where there are cases of human rights violations in the country." The family commission of the National Assembly declared that it would formally request for a UN human rights delegation in the country, to be appointed by the High Commissioner
Michelle Bachelet Verónica Michelle Bachelet Jeria (; born 29 September 1951) is a Chilean politician who served as President of Chile from 2006 to 2010 and again from 2014 to 2018, becoming the first woman to hold the presidency. She was re-elected in December ...
, in order to begin a thorough investigation into the case of Chacón, and his brother, Adrián Chacón, who was also a victim of police repression. Social media users started a campaign to help Chacón, where the
ophthalmology Ophthalmology (, ) is the branch of medicine that deals with the diagnosis, treatment, and surgery of eye diseases and disorders. An ophthalmologist is a physician who undergoes subspecialty training in medical and surgical eye care. Following a ...
clinic Barraquer in
Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...
,
Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...
, which specializes in cornea transplants, offered to help to treat Chacón, as did the doctor Jeffrey Goldberg of the
University of San Diego The University of San Diego (USD) is a Private university, private Catholic Church, Catholic research university in San Diego, California, United States. Chartered in 1949 as the independent San Diego College for Women and San Diego University ...
in California; and the professor of plastic surgery at the
University of Pittsburgh The University of Pittsburgh (Pitt) is a Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The university is composed of seventeen undergraduate and graduate schools and colle ...
, Vijay Gorantla, would study the possibility of performing an eye transplant. Only shortly after the protest his cause was attracting celebrity support, with
Don Omar William Omar Landrón Rivera (born February 10, 1979), known professionally as Don Omar, is a Puerto Rican rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He is also known as the " King of Reggaeton" by music critics and fans alike. The ...
sharing photos of Chacón on
Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...
the same night of the attack. Despite the intentions of several people both inside and outside of Venezuela to support the family financially, Parada has indicated that she has not been contacted by any foreign clinic to propose alternatives that allow her to recover her son's vision.


Later life

Along with the help of several other Venezuelans, the Chacón family managed to establish a food kiosk in their home. However, the mayorship executed reportedly a resolution that ordered the closure of informal establishments and security officials forced them to close the business, leaving them without income. On 30 May 2021, CICPC officials entered Chacón's home without a search warrant, climbing over a fence to reach Rufo's room and arresting him along with his brother, besides seizing two motorcycles from the family; both were moved to the police headquarters. Rufo was accused of stealing a motorcycle and they were interrogated without the presence of lawyers or relatives. When his mother went to the facilities to look for her children, they told her that the arrest had been "a mistake", and that they could leave if she signed an act. She protested the implausibility of Rufo's accusations of stealing a motorcycle when he is blind.


In popular media

The 2023 film ''Simón'', directed by Venezuelan film maker
Diego Vicentini Diego Vicentini (born 1994) is a Venezuelan film maker. His debut feature film, '' Simón'', was nominated for the 38th Goya Awards in the Best Ibero-American film category in representation of Venezuela and reached the #6 spot on Netflix's Glob ...
, features a character who is inspired on Rufo Chacón.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chacón, Rufo, Attack of Protests in Venezuela Articles containing video clips Police brutality in South America Violence in Venezuela