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By DANIELA VILANOVA
Columnist

Since our independence more than two centuries ago, we Venezuelans believe military power is the best form of government.

If history has taught us anything, it is that having a military man as head-of-state is not always the best option.

Power has an addictive effect on military leaders. And it makes them want to stay in power indefinitely.

The most recent case in the history of Venezuela where a military man came to power through non-traditional means is the case of Hugo Chávez. He was a spiteful military man who tried to take over in a coup in 1992 but failed.

Because we refused to learn from our mistakes, in 1998 we elected Chávez as our president because many thought Venezuela needed a man with a strong hand.
This began a new period of dictatorship in Venezuela.

Fast forward to 2013. Chávez dies of cancer and leaves the country in the hands of Nicolas Maduro, a man who did not finish Grade 6, and who drove buses for a living.

Our country was doing poorly after 14 years of dictatorship, and now it was in the hands of someone unqualified for the job. Plus, the MUD (the opposition party) was no longer defending our rights.

Venezuelans needed someone to give us hope.

Out of nowhere appears Oscar Pérez, a man with a varied resume which includes model, actor and member of the Special Actions Brigade.

On June 27, 2017, Pérez appears, piloting a helicopter, and allegedly fires several shots against government headquarters to let people know of his disgust with the government.

Venezuelans began to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Pérez continued with his campaign against the government through a series of online videos where he appeared with other members of his “attack group.”

Everyone covered their faces except Pérez, who motivated the people to take to the streets and protest.

Everything seemed fine until you analyze his messages. Everytime something strange happened in the country, there would be a message from Pérez saying we will end the dictatorship if we continue on the street.This distracted people from what was really happening.

Many of his followers would have cut my head if they knew that this is the image I have of Pérez.

On Jan. 15, 2018, multiple videos made by Pérez began to appear on the web. In them, you can see him in a house and hear shots in the distance.

You can hear Pérez saying that he and his group surrender and asking to stop shooting.

When I saw these videos I was very surprised. I didn’t understand what was happening. Where was Pérez and his group? Why were they being shot at?

Different reasons have come to light for why the government attacked Pérez and his group. According to CNN, the official reason presented by the government is that Pérez was considered a terrorist and he and his group were planning an attack on one of the embassies of an unidentified country.

Unofficial sources claimed that Pérez and his group were conspiring against the Venezuelan government, possibly planning a coup.

When the police heard this, they bombarded the house until everyone – including civilians – were dead.

Here is when everything stops making sense.

If you know there is a group that wants to take actions against the government, isn’t your mission to capture them alive to be able to interrogate them?

Due to the lack of freedom of expression in Venezuela, the truth will never fully come to light.

According to reports from unofficial sources, the members of Pérez’s group had shots to the head, apparently inflicted after they had already died.

Then, they wouldn’t hand over the bodies so relatives of the fallen could carry out burial rituals.

The strangest thing of all is that Pérez’s body was never delivered to his relatives, and in unofficial reports, a government agent took Pérez’s body without consent.

Reports later announced that Pérez’s body had been secretly buried in the middle of the night by, once again, government agents.

At the same time that the shooting was happening, the Venezuelan journalist Javier Mayorca, a crime reporter, tweeted that a shipment of gold was leaving the Venezuelan international airport of Maiquetia, heading to Dubai.

He added that this operation was being supervised by Ramón Lobo, president of the Central Bank of Venezuela.

Other rumors said Pérez was captured alive, in secret, and was killed hours later by police.

More rumors said Pérez’s body was never delivered, because he did not really die in the shooting, but rather survived because he was working with the government.

I would not be surprised if Pérez was working with the government and, who knows, maybe he was on the plane along with the gold heading for Dubai.

I think Pérez’s role was to distract the people and give false hope.

We are being governed by a gang of psychopaths who find pleasure in the suffering of a whole country.

They do not care about the lack of food, medicine or safety, since they have a goal of accumulating as much money as possible for their own benefit.