Recently, the President of the Republic Nicolás Maduro Moros, the Executive Vice President Delcy Rodríguez and the Vice President of the Psuv Diosdado Cabello Rondón, have agreed to denounce before the national public opinion that there is a plan to generate fires that keep Venezuelans in anxiety.
According to figures from the Ministry of Ecosocialism provided to the EFE news agency, from November 2023 to March 26, 2024, 16.801,36 hectares have been affected by forest fires.
Of this surface, 5.045,50 hectares belong to Areas Under the Special Administration Regime, which includes national parks, natural monuments and wildlife refuges, among others.
This surface has been affected, in that period, by 1.778 forest fires, with the Bolívar state being the one that registers the most fires with 298.
The most affected states are Carababobo with a total of 3.095,84 hectares, Mérida with 2.206,76 hectares and Yaracuy with 1.571,62. However, the actions of the security forces have meant that these events are not more serious.
The vice minister for Risk Management and Civil Protection, Carlos Pérez Ampueda, informed Últimas Noticias that in recent days they attended to 2.700 fires in different regions of the country.
In addition, he noted that, thanks to early warning mechanisms with cutting-edge technology, 978 fire outbreaks have been neutralized.
One of them occurred in the Henri Pittier national park in the state of Aragua, where the authorities are acting with six patrol teams, while using thermal drones “to obtain precise information on where the hot spots are located that could revive the fire".
Arson fires.
An outstanding fact from the report issued by the Ministry of Ecosocialism is that 90% of forest fires were caused by humans.
“Behind these fires there are those who are seeking to attack everyone's tranquility with destabilizing purposes,” denounced in recent days the mayor of the Bruzual municipality of the Yaracuy state, Carlos González, after attacking the fires on the La Enjalma hill and in the sectors La Tigrera and Tacarigua of the María Lionza natural monument, in Chivacoa.
The Ministry of Ecosocialism has reported that 15 people have been arrested so far for causing the fires at the Henri Pittier.
Plan against services. Several national authorities have denounced that these fires transcend forestry and directly affect the public services that citizens use.
On March 29, the Minister of Transportation, Ramón Velásquez Araguayán, reported a fire arson in the parking lots of the Transaragua transportation system that destroyed 112 units. Due to this fact, one person has been arrested for allegedly being the one who caused the fire.
“We do not hesitate to classify this event as a planned, criminal act, taking into consideration that, currently, as a result of the forest fires that are being recorded in Henri Pittier Park, all the potential of the state's firefighters were dedicated to putting out this fire.” , highlighted Araguayan.
While on March 31, in the San Francisco municipality of Zulia state, a fire broke out at the Génesis Petit Oncology Center, which caused damage to the trailer attached to the facilities that contained specialized equipment to care for cancer patients free of charge. .
“The Bolivarian Government categorically rejects the attack against the health of the people in the state of Zulia,” expressed the sectoral vice president of Public Works and Services, Néstor Reverol, through a message on X.
One of the perpetrators of this incident, captured by security cameras, is identified as Ángel de Jesús Ávila, alias El Diablito, 43 years old, who has already been captured, as reported by local media.
Due to all these events, the President of the Republic, Nicolás Maduro, in his program Con Maduro + on April 2, denounced that these fires are a “strategy of fascism” to generate anxiety and unrest in an electoral year.
“Behind a good part of these arsons, this destruction, is the right of the surnames trying to take revenge on Venezuela,” said the head of state, who ordered all the security forces and the people to be alert to new facts of this type.
Background. In the past, opposition sectors have used these techniques as actions to provoke a change of government. In 2017, between April and July, 23 people had been burned alive, as documented by Red58. In 2019, they set fire to trucks with logistical material to invade the country through the Táchira.
