The famous Venezuelan YouTuber Oscar Alejandro was arrested this Sunday by Venezuelan authorities at the Simón Bolívar International Airport in Maiquetía, near the capital Caracas.
According to a statement from the family, the arrest was carried out under alleged accusations of "terrorism," but the Prosecutor's Office, controlled by Nicolás Maduro's tyranny, has not yet made an official statement.
"The arrest is linked to accusations of activities related to terrorism," reads the family statement published on Oscar Alejandro's social media. He has 1,890,000 million subscribers on YouTube.
"Recognized for his work in promoting Venezuelan culture, he now faces this legal process. The family expresses its hope that the judicial process, which will begin with a hearing scheduled for Monday, April 1, 2024 in the 2nd Court of Control of the Metropolitan Area, will clarify the details of the situation and ensure fair treatment in accordance with the rights legal actions of Oscar Alejandro," concluded the public complaint.
Comunicado de la familia del Youtuber, Óscar Alejandro detenido en el aeropuerto de Maiquetía, Caracas, este domingo por las fuerzas del régimen chavista pic.twitter.com/2piZKZvkgQ
— Maibort Petit (@maibortpetit) April 1, 2024
According to various press reports, the YouTuber is detained in the Antiterrorism Division of the Scientific Investigation Corps of Venezuela headquarters.
Oscar Alejandro was arrested when he was preparing to travel with his family to the Canaima National Park, located in the State of Bolívar.
This is the umpteenth case of "terrorism" used by Venezuelan authorities to arrest civilians, journalists, activists or opinion leaders amid a wave of repression that has been growing as the next presidential election on July 28 approaches.
The alleged reason behind Oscar Alejandro's arrest
Although Venezuelan authorities have not yet specified why the YouTuber is accused, accounts on X (Twitter) linked to the Maduro regime began to falsely accuse Oscar Alejandro of inciting an attack against a vital building in the capital, Caracas.
In the video in question, cited by dozens of accounts on X that openly support the Maduro regime or systematically criticize dissidents in Venezuela, Oscar Alejandro briefly refers to the Credicard Tower in the city of Caracas, where the country's electronic card servers are located to make payments.
"That illuminated building behind us is the Credicard tower which, as a curious fact, is where the servers for all the credit and debit cards in Venezuela are located. If they threw a bomb at that building, the entire national banking system would collapse," said the YouTuber, referring to the fact that if something happened to the building, Venezuela's electronic payment system would collapse.
The video, published seven months ago, had had no impact until today when dozens of accounts systematically and synchronously began to share it after the YouTuber's arrest was unofficially revealed on social media.
Numerous Venezuelan users on social media, from journalists to human rights defenders, claimed that Oscar Alejandro was being subjected to arbitrary and unfounded detention.
🇻🇪 | URGENTE: La dictadura venezolana acaba de detener al youtuber Oscar Alejandro. Lo ha detenido la división “antiterrorismo” por haber grabado videos mostrando la realidad del régimen. Esto es muy grave, por favor, DIFUNDIR. Una detención completamente ilegal y arbitraria. pic.twitter.com/afEwtbuSxQ
— Agustín Antonetti (@agusantonetti) March 31, 2024
The YouTuber, who produces and publishes videos about trips abroad and Venezuelan culture, publicly revealed months ago that he avoided talking about politics or showing the complex situation in Venezuela on his YouTube channel for fear of reprisals from Maduro's tyranny.
Recently, Oscar Alejandro traveled to Nicaragua, a country ruled by socialist dictator Daniel Ortega, an ally of Maduro.
Oscar Alejandro's videos about Nicaragua were subject to censorship in a case that drew international attention.
