Students from the Central University of Venezuela (UCV) thwarted the celebration of a forum where Nicolás Maduro Guerra, the son of the Venezuelan dictator detained in the United States, was set to speak about "the life and work" of his father, according to a report by El Nacional.
The event, organized by the Pío Tamayo Chair and scheduled to take place at the Central Library on campus, was unofficially suspended following protests that blocked access to the venue.
The call sparked spontaneous assemblies and gatherings in the hallways of the educational institution.
The protesters arrived with banners that read phrases like "UCV is a space free of torturers," "What are your father's accomplishments? Suffocating the university?" and "UCV has a memory," while chanting "You can't see it, you can't forget it!"
In the videos shared by the account VivaLaUCV on X, students can be heard gathering in the hallways of the campus, and it is observed how the mobilization prevented Maduro Guerra's delegation from entering the premises.
Student leader Octavio González was the most vocal presence of the day: “At UCV, there is no room for those who have destroyed our university. They can go tell their stories and memories somewhere else; we don’t want them here.”
One of the narrators in the videos published by UCV summarized the sentiments of the protesters: "Here the university spoke clearly and directly. We do not want them stepping on the Central University of Venezuela, and they will not be welcomed here or in any other educational institution, because we, at UCV, do have memory."
The student activist Rosa Cucunuba pointed out that the rejection represented 27 years of misery and suffering under chavismo.
The protesters held the government responsible for the precarious economic conditions of public universities, pointing out that the presence of the ruling party deputy was incompatible with that reality.
UCV is facing a chronic budget crisis: the Association of Professors of UCV (APUCV) reported that nearly 75% of the teaching staff was excluded from the second payment of the professional responsibility bonus, and the University Council rescheduled the student and faculty elections for July 10, 2026.
Maduro Guerra, known as "Nicolasito," is a deputy in the National Assembly representing the state of La Guaira and chairs the Interior Policy Committee of the parliament.
Since his father was captured by U.S. special forces on January 3 during "Operation Absolute Resolution" and moved to a federal prison in Manhattan, Nicolasito became the primary spokesperson for chavismo.
The dictator's own son is facing charges of drug trafficking and conspiracy before the Southern District of New York, which accuses him of coordinating drug shipments with dissidents from the FARC using planes from the state oil company PDVSA. In February, Washington formally requested his extradition.
The day of the frustrated forum at the university was not an isolated event. This Tuesday, students from UCV dismantled a perimeter mural featuring the image of Hugo Chávez, in what they called "liberating a space for the students."
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