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Which also managed to affect the team that worked with Maduro’s opponents, as is the case with the videographer. Luis Gonzalo Perezwho worked alongside Machado to cover the protests and had to leave his country due to threats against him and his family.
Maria Corina Machado’s videographer who fled Venezuela after being accused of terrorism
In an interview with the magazine ‘Semana’, the professional explained that the situation in Venezuela worsened after the presidential elections and in the midst of his journalistic work he suffered: “Threats, intimidation, persecution of my own family, of my partner, of me.”
Which led him to make a big decision: “Either I stay in Venezuela hiding or I had to leave my own country, something that was never planned. My departure was forced, I had to make the decision from one day to the next to protect my own physical integrity.”
One of the moments that alerted him was when María Corina Machado warned him about a possible arrest warrant, while they were in his truck: “Very innocently I thought it would be something from the recordings; I remember him telling me: ‘Luis, don’t be alarmed, but someone from our team is going to call you because we have information that there may be an arrest warrant for you’”.
He continued explaining: “I was hiding in Venezuela for at least a month, outside my home, in constant fear for my family because police and intelligence officials arrived at my relatives’ homes.”
“Alerts came in telling me that if they saw me on the street with her, they were going to kidnap me. I chose to separate my partner from me; my father was at home; my mother was with me because she felt safe having me by her side,” she told the aforementioned media outlet.
When he decided to leave his country to go to Colombia, his mother cut his hair to keep a “low profile” and not be recognized. He said goodbye to his father via video call, saying: “I have to leave Venezuela and I can’t hug you. I still don’t know when I’ll see my dad again.”
He added that he is also going through a period of mourning and that it is difficult for him because he cannot be with his family: “Two days ago my maternal grandmother passed away and I am here in exile and I I couldn’t say goodbye to my grandmother. I’m in mourning and I can’t hug my family.” he said, his voice breaking.
The Venezuelan government called him a “terrorist” and that is why it clarified: “My weapon was always a microphone and a camera. It was about going through each state and documenting how that number of people want change and know that change has begun. That has been my weapon as a social communicator. I am not a terrorist.”
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