Murder in Venezuela | CRIME |Axisoflogic.com

At the outset of this report, we extend our deepest sorrow for the deaths of Monica Spear, Thomas Berry, the wounding and orphaning of their little girl, Maya. and our heartfelt sympathy to the families and loved ones of these people.

Shortly before midnight on Monday, January 6, assassins murdered Monica Spear and her ex-husband, Thomas Berry and wounded their 5 year old daughter in their car while they were traveling on holiday in Venezuela.

We have scoured the international media and followed the story carefully as it continues to unfold in Venezuela’s private media, the international press and airways and on National Public Television and Radio here in order to provide reliable, factual information to Axis of Logic readers. The following details are what we can report with a reasonable degree of confidence at this time:

Monica Spear, born in Venezuela and raised in Orlando, Florida, became famous as Miss Venezuela (2004) and since then as a TV star. After winning the title of Miss Venezuela, the actress appeared in a number of Spanish language soap operas, most recently "Pasion Prohibida" (Forbidden Passion) and "Flor Salvaje" (Wild Flower) on Telemundo.
Thomas Berry is a British national who moved to Venezuela with his family when he was 7 years old ran a travel agency here.

The couple was divorced but continued their friendship, lived in the U.S. and returned to Venezuela to visit and travel with their 5 year old daughter during the holidays.

At the time of their murders they were traveling on the autopista from Valencia, Venezuela’s 4th largest city, about 2½ hours west of Caracas to Puerto Cabello on the country’s Caribbean coast. It’s a route to the beaches, especially traveled heavily during the holiday season.

Around 11 p.m. their car struck an object on the autopista that flattened two of their tires. Government reports suggest that the object was placed on the highway ahead of their car intended to immobilize their gray Toyota Carolla.

From the breakdown lane they called for a tow service and two men arrived, loading the car onto the tow truck.

When their car was on the tow truck assassins appeared and chased away the two tow truck drivers. The tow truck drivers are being questioned by authorities.

Reports vary and it is unclear whether the victims were already in the car on the truck when the killers appeared or whether they fled to the car when they appeared.

The killers opened fire on them as they were locked inside the car, shooting Spear and Berry in the chest, killing them instantly and wounding their 5 year old daughter in the leg.

With the help of local authorities, the National Guard, forensic police detectives, members of a violent gang known as “Los Rapiditos” in the El Churro El Cambur sector of Puerto Cabello were apprehended.

CICPC (the equivalent of the FBI in the US) have in custody in Caracas 7 people, the oldest 39 years old, 4 men, one female and 2 adolescents.

Earlier reports said the killers took nothing from the car but latest reports indicate that some of those arrested had some of the victims’ things in their possession.

We will publish more details about these horrific murders as they are made available by the government from their continuing investigation.

Social and Political Context

If it is possible to understand the horrific and senseless crime and the motivation of the assassins, the social and political context must be explored. We hope that the specific root causes will be revealed more clearly as a result of the criminal investigation. In this report, we try to understand without conjecture what happened by exploring the social and political milieu in which this attack occurred.

The social context: The murders took place in a country where violent crime is an endemic, complex and ongoing problem. It may be that this attack can be explained solely as “a robbery gone bad” as reported by the local private and international media. Gangs like Los Rapiditos flourish in various parts of the country and routinely assault, rob and murder, kidnap for ransom, and in some cases are paid “hitmen.” One of their known methods is to rob motorists whose cars break down on the highway. Viewing the murders in this scenario, robbers randomly stopped a car, Spear and Berry resisted in fear by locking themselves inside and deprived their attackers of what they wanted. Out of rage and desire for contents of the car, the robbers opened fire shooting 6 times into the car to gain entry, killing the victims to steal their possessions and money. This would certainly not be the first time this has happened in Venezuela and it will not be the last. It’s also possible that the attack was not random at all and that the killers actually targeted Monica Spear and Thomas Berry figuring that they were wealthy and had money with them. Either way, this would have been how an attempted robbery turned into a double homicide and it would be yet another reflection of the high rate of violent crime in Venezuela. We will discuss Venezuela’s level of crime and violence as a context for this attack more thoroughly below.

The political context

We are reluctant to include the political situation in Venezuela in this discussion and only do so because the international media's crass politicalization of the murders of Monica Spear and Thomas Berry demands it. The media’s unconscionable use of the lives of these people and the suffering of their child, families and loved ones as tools to discredit the Venezuelan government cannot go unanswered. The many opposition newspapers and private television in Venezuela as well as the international media we have reviewed over the last 2 days have been reporting these murders, as in fact, a ‘robbery gone bad,’ opening the way to advance their political agendas, directly blaming the government for its failure to deal with crime and even for a lack of concern about the victims. This response is not an attempt to defend the government or minimize its responsibility to reduce and control crime in Venezuela. However, if these murders are viewed in a political context the following factors must be considered:

Venezuela’s long history of political violence, past and present.
The well-documented violence by the opposition and foreign elements meant to overthrow the democratically elected government.
The timing of the killing of Thomas Spear and Monica Berry.
The high profile of Monica Spear in Venezuela society, her fame and international status.

Political violence in Venezuela: Since Hugo Chavez was first elected 15 years ago and later declared Venezuela a socialist state, the government has been consistently attacked by the opposition by various means. There was the 2003 sabotage of the national petroleum company, and sustained sabotage of the food supply, electrical system and the ongoing war on the economy resulting in hyper-inflation. The following 5 events are cited as examples of violent attempts to overthrow the government:

2002 Failed Coup Attempt: The history of high profile violent attacks began with the well known coup d'état attempt against President Chavez in April, 2002 when he was kidnapped and people killed by opposition snipers in the streets of Caracas. The US media and the White House openly supported the coup and Eva Golinger, journalist and US lawyer revealed CIA documents through the FOIA that the US funded the coup via National Endowment for Democracy.
Assassination of Danilo Anderson: In 2004 Danilo Anderson was assassinated. Anderson was the state prosecutor, investigating those accused of the failed 2002 coup. He was killed when a C-4 plastic explosive was placed under the driver's seat of his car, detonated by remote control. In 2005 a number of people among the Venezuelan opposition were arrested including 2 policemen; on the same day of their arrests, a lawyer and another policeman involved opened fire when confronted by police and were shot dead; later a banker, journalist and retired general were arrested as masterminds of the assassination. Finally, a member of a Colombian paramilitary group gave sworn testimony that he participated in two meetings with the others to plan attacks against the government and in the second one settled on Danilo Anderson as their target. He testified that after that second meeting he obtained 12kg of C4 plastic explosive in Panama and transported it to Venezuela for the operation. After the arrests of these criminals, the opposition and international media accused the Venezuelan government of turning the investigation of Anderson's murder into a political issue.
Attack on the Amuay Refinery: At 1 a.m. on August 25, 2012 Venezuela’s largest oil refinery at Amuay blew up in a massive explosion killing 47 people and injuring 135. It took place in the leadup to late President Chavez presidential election in October 2012. An intensive year long investigation, ordered by President Chavez ended in September, 2013 and concluded that the explosion was caused by sabotage. Venezuela Analysis reported:

“Seventeen petroleum specialists were permanently involved in the investigation, and makers of the David Brown bomb and the Westinghouse motor were consulted. 18 simulations were carried out, as well as nine mathematical analyses and 179 tests and laboratory trials.

“One of those specialists, Ruben Figuera, told VTV yesterday that after conducting the various tests there was “no doubt” of the deliberate nature of what happened in Amuay. ‘One or various people’ were involved, and both Figuera and petroleum minister Rafael Ramirez allege the person or people could not have been PDVSA workers, who would have had to sign in to work in that area of the refinery.

‘The bolts were intentionally loosened... and it was a person who knew what they were doing,’ Ramirez said at the presentation of the report yesterday.

“‘In 10 seconds the [gas] cloud reached 7 metres... and after 10 minutes the alkene cloud was so dense that our teams couldn’t arrive at the site of the event,” Ramirez explained. He alleged the objective of the ‘sabotage’ was to ‘totally paralyse operations’ of the plant.

“Those behind the alleged sabotage ‘knew the area, they didn’t interfere with any old machinery, but rather with the system that is responsible for a very volatile and flammable product... and they knew the specific place to intervene and produce a gas leak that would be big enough to cause major losses,’ Ramirez concluded.”

The Post Election Murders on April 15, 2013: The day after President Maduro defeated Capriles Radonski in the April 14 presidential election last year, Radonski claimed fraud, refused to acknowledge Maduro’s victory and called for members of the opposition to go to the streets and incite riots which resulted in 11 Chavistas being murdered execution style, one of them a 9 year old child whose leg was amputated and later died. Public missions including free medical clinics were attacked and others were wounded.

Strategic Plan Venezuela: In November last year a secret document was discovered. Plan Estratégico Venezuela, prepared by members of the opposition, 2 Colombian organizations, FTI Consulting (Forensic Technologies International), headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida and USAID - The United States Agency for International Development for Latin America. The document outlined various actions be used to countervail against the December 8 nationwide mayoral elections. One of them specifically planned,

“To create crisis situations in the streets to facilitate the intervention by the United States and NATO forces, with the support of the government of Colombia. When possible, the violence must cause deaths and injuries. Encourage hunger strikes of several days, mass mobilizations, problems in universities and other sectors of society already identified as governmental institutions.”

Timing of the murders

The murders of Monica Spear and Thomas Berry took place within two months after two significant political events in Venezuela:

The first was the stunning defeat of the opposition in the December 8 nationwide mayoral elections. The importance of those elections cannot be overstated. After President Maduro won election by a small margin in April, hopes were pinned on the mayoral elections to demonstrate that he did not have the support of most Venezuelans. Instead, the PSUV (the ruling political party) won 255 (76%) of the 337 mayoral seats with the opposition (MUD) winning only 75 (22%) and others, 7% of the vote. Plan Estratégico Venezuela was a dismal failure, leaving the opposition in disarray.

The second relevant event was President Maduro’s powerful attack on corruption and his counter-attack on the opposition’s war on the Venezuelan economy. He audited hundreds of corporations and large businesses, reducing retail prices by as much as 70% and arresting many for illegal speculation and usury, designed to drive hyperinflation.

Given their history, it was predictable that the US-backed opposition was not about to accept these defeats without a response. As President Maduro entered the new year stronger than ever and the people’s support of the government consolidated at an all time high, the opposition was sure to react. As any group or nation commits itself to overthrow an enemy they naturally look for the weakest place to attack. With the electoral victories and the war on the economy put to bay, the government’s most vulnerable area was and still is domestic security.

It’s probably difficult for an outsider to grasp Monica Spear’s importance to the Venezuelan people. She was an extremely high profile woman, held dear to the hearts of the people in a land where beauty queens and novelas (soap operas) are watched with great love and affection. Her death has resulted in four powerful dynamics that reverberate through the culture, stun the people and undermine the government, domestically and internationally.

First, if Monica was assassinated for political reasons, it was an act of terrorism and one designed to go to the heart and soul of the people, instilling feelings of fear and insecurity in daily life, limiting personal movement and freedom.

Secondly, it undermines their confidence in the government’s ability to protect them from crime. In this case, it is meant to weaken a strong government, showing it to have failed it’s first and foremost responsibility – to protect the people it serves.

Third, it maligns Venezuela and the Maduro government in the eyes of the world.

Fourth, the government has recently begun to place great emphasis on international tourism. Another high speed rail line from Barquisimeto to Puerto Cabello was recently completed in the national train system, a fleet of new buses have been launched for touring the country and international tourism has been widely promoted as one of the keys of boosting the economy and national prestige. Regardless of who killed Monica Spear and why they did it, the media's widespread use of her death as a political tool during the last two days is an effective attack on Venezuelan tourism. Only yesterday, I received an email message from a friend in the United States who said the news of these murders, “Certainly makes me think twice about ever visiting ...”

Venezuelan Opposition and International Media

The private media here in Venezuela, in the US and Europe have been headlining massive coverage of the Spear-Berry murders, reporting conflicting details with heavy emphasis on violent crime in Venezuela. Their coverage has focused on the brutality of the murders, their emotional impact and the failure of the Venezuelan government to control crime and protect the people. Without exception greatest emphasis in the news stories which we reviewed by these entities over the last two days has been to place blame on the government. We offer just one example: CNN reports on the murders citing an NGO, The Venezuelan Violence Observatory (VVO), stating:

“One person is killed roughly every 21 minutes in Venezuela. And there were 24,700 violent deaths last year in the oil-rich country of 30 million people ... The observatory says the country's murder rate has soared to nearly 80 deaths per 100,000 people. Government statistics put the figure significantly lower, at 39 deaths per 100,000.”

Our examination of the VVO website shows repeated complaints that the government withholds information on crime statistics and yet differs with the crime rates reported by the government, calling their own statistics “estimates” and most of their reports are anecdotal. While CNN reported “nearly 80 deaths per 100,000 people,” the VVO actually used this figure as a projection, not as a finding.

None of the VVO reports credit the government for its broad and gradually effective programs to combat crime, including dramatic poverty reduction; programs for youth in music, sports, work, counseling and education; prohibition of private gun stores; massive confiscation/destruction of illegal weapons; the 55% reduction in homicides in Greater Caracas last year resulting from the “Safe Homeland Program;” Venezuela’s Mision Vivienda, building a million new homes for low income Venezuelans living in substandard housing; Maduro’s Government in the Street program or Community Councils among others. In fact, VVO actually cites Mision Vivienda as a cause of violent crime, revealing their bias.

The 17 international media we have reviewed follow suit with these emphases in varying degrees. All of them state unequivocally (before an investigation has taken place) that the murders of Spear and Berry were at the hands of common criminals during an attempted robbery in an extremely dangerous country. Some state emphatically without references, that Venezuela has the second highest murder rate in the world which is contradicted by a number of independent studies. Finally, the international outcry over these murders along with opposition protests in front of the National Assembly and in Las Mercedes, a wealthy municipality in Caracas, stands in stark contrast to their complete silence about the murders of 11 people, including 2 children on April 15 last year, the day after Maduro won the presidential election. This reflects a different value placed upon the lives of 2 celebrities than upon the low income Venezuelans (Chavistas) who were murdered because of their support for the government.

Government’s Response to the murders

On Tuesday, President Maduro said he “shared feelings of grief and sadness that has engulfed the Venezuelan people for the death of actress Monica Spear.” He convened a meeting with security teams to review what happened and “to adjust all security plans already in progress.” He spoke with investigators to "try to see an explanation, if one can have an explanation an occasion such as this" and stated that he “will act with an iron hand to punish those who follow the path of violence.”

On Wednesday he and Miguel Rodriguez Torres, Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace met with governors of 23 states and the mayors of the 79 municipalities with the highest incidence of criminal violence. Maduro asked the media to treat the crime ethically and “not to use the case for political gain and to stimulate hatred." Regarding crime he said,

"This is not the time to faint and lose the battle. It is time to wake up with more strength to build peace ... In Venezuela there has to be respect for the law, to order, to the life ... We are going to go ahead with the movements of culture, sport, and work to the lives of these young people in every community ... [to fund the Safe Homeland Program against] against those who seek to maintain the massacre of the people. There will be no tolerance with those who seek to maintain this kind of action, to kill men and women, who have the right to life."

Maduro stated,

"Nobody can cross arms, the murder, violence, massacre against this young Venezuelan and her husband, is a slap in the face for all, we all have to assume the responsibility, and I assume mine ... We are determined to build a new model to truly oppose this complex problem of crime and the violence linked to crime, drugs and the values of the ill-gotten wealth."

President Maduro offered a proposal to build a model of democratic authority that occupies all levels of the government and simultaneously uses all social structures to ensure the protection of the people, in his words - "replacing, in practice, the values of easy wealth, violence, disrespect for the right to life, with new values of respect for life, the human being." Of his proposal he stated, “the package must not trickle down but must assume full responsibility to attack the violence directly ... Let us be larger than the difficulty.”

Minister Rodríguez Torres said,

"The fight against violence has to involve all the authorities so the criminals know they'll face the full rigour of the law, because we've had enough already." He promised to "use everything we have, the police, the army, against those who will not go down the path of peace ... it is painful, not only the death of this beloved actress, but of any Venezuelan who falls. It hurts us and leaves us in mourning."

"parece un sicariato"

After spending time on January 8 talking with the detectives who are investigating the case, President Maduro also stated,

"I make a call for the media of the right wing not to manipulate this theme more than what they have already done today. It is a lack of respect for the country as a whole and to the victims ... I am not going to destroy the revolution by using a theme that runs through the entire continent and that crosses our society from 40-50 years ago, one that we are prepared to face.

"El asesinato de Spear parece un sicariato (translation: Spear’s assassin appears to be a hired killer) ... Ese asesinato de ayer más parece un sicariato (translaton: Yesterday’s assassinations seem to be contract killings) ... I've been there talking with the police chiefs. Every detail that he did this - he did that - and why they fired as well. Already we captured one of those who were involved and we have already identified others involved in these murders, and we're going to find them with the law in their hands."

Conclusion

We make no claim that Monica Spear and Thomas Berry were targeted and assassinated for political reasons; nor do we conclude that their murders amounted to a common crime carried out by thugs who robbed them for what they had in their car. We do not have evidence to support either scenario. But we will be reporting more as details become known from the investigation. The families, loved ones and friends of Monica Spear, Thomas Berry and their little daughter are suffering and all Venezuelans are grieving this ineffable calamity. The impact is deep and permanent. We hope and pray that the government will solve this crime, bring all those responsible to justice and continue to gain increasing control of violent crime and bring peace and security to Venezuela, now more than ever.

Finally, the image portrayed of Venezuela by the international media and the US State Department as an extremely dangerous place to visit does not comport with my personal experience having lived here and having had many international visiting guests for nearly 7 years, in peace and without incident. By far most of the violence in Venezuela is related to drugs, alcohol and personal conflicts. As in all cities and countries of the world, care must be taken to measure one's behavior and to avoid dangerous places and situations.

Biography, Essays and Poetry by Les Blough