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“I was already graduated and playing professional basketball because I was a champion”

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Parents of Juan Pablo Pernalete | Photo: Provide

This April 26 marks the fifth anniversary of the murder of Juan Pablo Pernalete, who was hit by a tear gas canister in the chest, in the middle of one of the anti-government protests of 2017, as confirmed by the Attorney General of the Republic at that time. , Luisa Ortega Diaz.

During the demonstrations that year, acts of repression were generated that are currently being investigated by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for the commission of crimes against humanity. This Tuesday, the mother of Juan Pablo Pernalete recalled the death of her son. “My son was already graduated. Maybe he was playing professional basketball because he was a champion.” so what express Elvira Pernalete.

The mother stressed that at his short 20 years of age, his son “was already a social fighter and an activist for human rights.” She stated that she and her husband, José Gregorio Pernalete, were afraid that her son would go out to protest. However, the young man expressed his conviction to demonstrate in the face of the country’s crisis.

“He was protesting against a health system that did not guarantee medical care for children with cancer,” he said.

Elvira Pernalete’s statements were given during a tribute that was paid to Juan Pablo Pernalete this Tuesday in the spaces of the Metropolitan University.

The bolt gun version

After the murder of Pernalete, the government of Nicolás Maduro insisted on assuring that the death had been caused by the firing of a captive bolt pistol. However, on May 24, 2017, the then attorney general, Luisa Ortega Díaz, declared in a press conference that Pernalete died as a result of a tear gas canister fired by the Bolivarian National Guard (GNB).

In 2021, before the preliminary investigation of the ICC, the current attorney general, Tarek William Saab, also acknowledged that the young man was killed with a tear gas canister fired by a GNB.

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