Venezuela helicopter pilot Oscar Pérez killed in raid
16 January 2018
Renegade helicopter pilot Oscar Perez was killed in a nine-hour long siege near the capital, Caracas, on Monday, the Venezuelan government has confirmed. The pilot was labelled a "terrorist" by the government after he threw grenades at government buildings from a helicopter he stole on 27 June. He had been on the run since then. Police tracked him down to a house where he was hiding along with members of the anti-government cell he founded. Oscar Perez had been a member of the forensic police (known as the CICPC by its initials in Spanish) for 15 years before he hit the headlines. He flew a CICPC helicopter over Caracas dropping grenades on the Supreme Court and firing shots at the Ministry of the Interior. No-one was injured in the attack. The helicopter was later found abandoned on the outskirts of Caracas, but Mr Perez had vanished. While he managed to elude the security forces for almost seven months, he made at least one appearance at an opposition rally where people cheered him and took selfies with him. After the helicopter attack, Mr Perez also carried out a raid on a military police post in Los Teques, south-west of Caracas, on 18 December. He posted footage of himself and masked members of his group overpowering the guards, gagging and tying them up and making off with 26 rifles. Before launching his helicopter attack, Oscar Perez had recorded a video message in which he appeared in front of a group of masked and armed men. The video emerged at the height of anti-government street protests and he said he was fighting against President Nicolas Maduro's "tyranny" and his "narco-dictatorship." In the video message, he called on the military, the police and civilians to rise up against the government. "Together, let's retake our beloved Venezuela," Mr Perez urged. He said his aim was to "re-establish the constitutional order in Venezuela" and "to return the power to the people". In the last of his videos uploaded to the photo sharing site Instagram as the siege was under way, he urged Venezuelans "not to lose hope" and to continue fighting for democracy in Venezuela. The security forces surrounded the house at 04:00 local time (09:00GMT) on Monday. At its height, 150 police were involved in the operation, officials said. During the siege, Mr Perez posted a series of videos on social media. In the recordings, he can be heard saying that he had offered to turn himself in but that he believed authorities were initially trying to kill him rather than negotiate his surrender. "They're shooting at us with RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades]," he said. "There are civilians inside here. We said we'd turn ourselves in, but they don't want to let us turn ourselves in. They want to kill us," Mr Perez added. After hours without revealing what Oscar Perez's fate was, Justice Minister Nestor Reverol gave a news conference on Tuesday. In it he said that Mr Perez was among seven "terrorists" killed in the siege. He also said that two of his "accomplices" in the attack on the military police post were among those killed as well as a woman whose identity has not yet been revealed. Two members of the security forces also died in the operation and six people have been detained.
Oscar Perez had been a member of the forensic police (known as the CICPC by its initials in Spanish) for 15 years before he hit the headlines. He flew a CICPC helicopter over Caracas dropping grenades on the Supreme Court and firing shots at the Ministry of the Interior. No-one was injured in the attack. The helicopter was later found abandoned on the outskirts of Caracas, but Mr Perez had vanished. While he managed to elude the security forces for almost seven months, he made at least one appearance at an opposition rally where people cheered him and took selfies with him.
5247_0
Who was Oscar Perez?
After the helicopter attack, Mr Perez also carried out a raid on a military police post in Los Teques, south-west of Caracas, on 18 December. He posted footage of himself and masked members of his group overpowering the guards, gagging and tying them up and making off with 26 rifles.
5247_1
What else did he do?
Before launching his helicopter attack, Oscar Perez had recorded a video message in which he appeared in front of a group of masked and armed men. The video emerged at the height of anti-government street protests and he said he was fighting against President Nicolas Maduro's "tyranny" and his "narco-dictatorship." In the video message, he called on the military, the police and civilians to rise up against the government. "Together, let's retake our beloved Venezuela," Mr Perez urged. He said his aim was to "re-establish the constitutional order in Venezuela" and "to return the power to the people". In the last of his videos uploaded to the photo sharing site Instagram as the siege was under way, he urged Venezuelans "not to lose hope" and to continue fighting for democracy in Venezuela.
5247_2
What did he want?
The security forces surrounded the house at 04:00 local time (09:00GMT) on Monday. At its height, 150 police were involved in the operation, officials said. During the siege, Mr Perez posted a series of videos on social media. In the recordings, he can be heard saying that he had offered to turn himself in but that he believed authorities were initially trying to kill him rather than negotiate his surrender. "They're shooting at us with RPGs [rocket-propelled grenades]," he said. "There are civilians inside here. We said we'd turn ourselves in, but they don't want to let us turn ourselves in. They want to kill us," Mr Perez added.
5247_3
What happened on Monday?
After hours without revealing what Oscar Perez's fate was, Justice Minister Nestor Reverol gave a news conference on Tuesday. In it he said that Mr Perez was among seven "terrorists" killed in the siege. He also said that two of his "accomplices" in the attack on the military police post were among those killed as well as a woman whose identity has not yet been revealed. Two members of the security forces also died in the operation and six people have been detained.
5247_4
What was the outcome of the siege?