Protest in Caracas after the murder of Oscar Pérez

Hundreds of Venezuelans staged a protest in Caracas in tribute to former police officer Oscar Pérez, 36, who died from a gunshot to the head this week in an operation led by the security forces of the Government of Nicolás Maduro, which used weapons of war.

Pérez, a former member of that country's scientific police, died along with six other members of the group that had risen up against the Chavista regime. They had all taken refuge in a house on the outskirts of the city.

The march was called by the opposition, as a protest against the fact that the authorities have not yet handed over the bodies to their families for burial. According to the death certificates, six of the bodies have gunshot wounds to the head.

The former officer's body was moved to a city cemetery without the permission of his family, who were not authorized to go to the funeral.

Some protesters attended the event not only because of the death of Oscar Pérez, but because of the general crisis situation that the country is experiencing, where food and medicine are scarce and there are high levels of insecurity in the streets.

“The only thing we ask is to live in freedom, to live as we lived 20 years ago,” said a woman interviewed.