Venezuelan Socialist Politician Slain in ‘Vile’ Killing

Puebla, Mexico, April 1, 2016 (venezuelanalysis.com) – Venezuelan authorities announced Friday the opening of an investigation into the killing of a socialist politician in Trujillo state.

Marco Tulio Carrillo was “shot repeatedly” outside his home in Trujillo Thursday night, according to a statement from Venezuela’s public prosecutor’s office. Carrillo was the mayor of the La Ceiba municipality, and a member of President Nicolas Maduro’s United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).

The prosecution said Carrillo was hit by eight bullets fired from a passing car. No suspects have yet been named.

The killing has been condemned by other socialist politicians.

“Another worthy revolutionary has been vilely felled,” tweeted PSUV legislator Hugbel Roa.

Carrillo is the third pro-Maduro political figure to be killed in the past week.

Over the weekend, Haitian-Venezuelan political figure and solidarity activist Fritz Saint Louis was gunned down in his home. Saint Louis had served as the international coordinator for the United Haitian Socialist Movement, as well as secretary-general of the Haitian-Bolivarian Culture House of Venezuela. It’s unclear whether Saint Louis’ killing was politically motivated, though in 2015 he ran as a candidate in the PSUV’s National Assembly election primaries.

His death followed the suspected assassination of another socialist politician last Thursday. Legislator Cesar Vera was shot in Tachira state, in what local authorities say may have been a paramilitary attack.

Vera was a member of the Great Patriotic Pole, a political coalition of parties aligned with the PSUV. He was also a prominent figure in the leftist militia, the Tupamaro movement.

In another incident of political violence, two police officers were killed by right-wing militants earlier this week. The officers were killed while responding to a protest in Tachira state. Witnesses have said the pair were run over by a bus that had been hijacked by militants.