Robert Serra
| Robert Serra | |
|---|---|
| Born |
16 January 1987 Maracaibo, Venezuela |
| Died | 1 October 2014 (aged 27) Caracas, Venezuela |
| Nationality | Venezuelan |
| Occupation | Criminologist and politician |
| Political party | PSUV |
Robert Serra (16 January 1987 – 1 October 2014) was a Venezuelan politician from Maracaibo and a member of the Venezuelan National Assembly for the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV).
According to political analyst Helly Angel, Serra had a "very aggressive temperament" and stated that he "was very controversial, very problematic, even within their own family unit, with many conflicts and confrontations, even among his own family". He also described Serra as a "admirer of Fidel Castro, a supporter of the Cuban revolution". Serra attended the Catholic University of Andres Bello where he had few friends and failed to establish a Chavista group at the university where most students had middle-class conservative roots. A former classmate stated that Serra was "Even by chavista standards, Robert was always very militant" and that he was a provocateur among students, describing an occasion after Serra made controversial statements at school that fellow students began pelting him with objects which followed with his transportation to and from campus by armed members of the Caracas Metropolitan Police. In 2010, Serra became the youngest politician ever elected to Venezuela's national legislature at the age of 23.
Serra and his companion María Herrera were stabbed at his home in Caracas on 1 October 2014. The circumstances surrounding Serra's death have been debated among the Venezuelan government and others.
Following the discovery of Serra's body, the Venezuelan government quickly accused opposition parties and hired killers of his death. Though President Nicolas Maduro stated that he would present official reports of Serra's death "within hours," he never presented such evidence within the timeframe. On 3 October, a ceremony of burial was held at the Cementerio General del Sur in Caracas where President Maduro accused foreign masterminds of Serra's murder, with those accused including former Colombian president Alvaro Uribe and "criminals" supposedly supported by the United States government. Uribe denied all of President Maduro's allegations. President Maduro also accused "ultra-right" groups in Venezuela and Colombia of Serra's death and presented a blurry video of a man who supposedly confessed to the murder stating that "the Colombia" told him to "get rid" of Serra. However, according to The Economist, the government, trailing badly in opinion polls with a crucial parliamentary election coming up in 2015, may have felt the need to rally the troops by playing up the ruthless nature of “the enemy”. As of 17 October, President Maduro stated that $500,000 was paid to multiple suspects with 75% of it supposedly reserved for "the Colombia" and that seven people were arrested who were allegedly involved in Serra's murder. On 1 November in a Runrunes interview, Serra's father who had lived with Serra for 3 months stated that one of the Venezuelan government's suspects, Edwin Torres, a colectivo member who was called Serra's "head bodyguard", was unfamiliar to him.
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