text: Published on Jun 27, 2017 
   
   Some modern Contra guy means serious business. Translation below. Apparently pilot of attack helicopter that attacked Venezuelan Supreme Court on June 27 2017. 
   
   
   
   Accorging to _ju1_ : https://mobile.twitter.com/_ju1_/stat... 
   
   El helicóptero que atacó y disparó contra el TSJ de Caracas estaba pilotado por un tal Oscar Pérez. 
   
   
   
   pictures https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DDXvgDgWs... 
   
   
   
   source: https://mobile.twitter.com/_ju1_/stat... 
   
   
   
   In their own words "Institutionalists" attacking the supreme court. Sure. 
   
   
   
   translation thanks to Kalmahavak: 
   
   
   
   Venezuelans. Dear brothers, we are speaking on behalf of the state. 
   
   We are a coalition of soldiers, policemen and civilians, searching for balance and against this transitional criminal government. We do not belong to a political party. We are nationalists, patriots, and institutionalists. 
   
   This fight, isn't against the rest of the state security force. It's against the impunity imposed by this government. Against tyranny. Against the young men and women who died fighting for their legitimate rights. Against hunger. Against poor healthcare. Against fanaticism. This fight is for life. This fight is for the hope we construct. 
   
   This is not revenge. It is justice and conscience that leads us to look for change. We wear this armband with the color of truth and Jesus Christ, who is with us. 
   
   It's because of this that we are calling all Venezuelans from the east to the west, from north to south, to accompany us in this struggle, let's go out into the streets, from Caracas to Fuerte Tiuna. And in the center of the country to every military base. So that we may reunite as brothers with our national armed forces. 
   
   And together, we retake our beautiful Venezuela. 
   
   In this day, we are making an aerial and land deployment with the sole purpose of giving back democratic power to the people. And in this, comply and enforce the laws to reestablish the constitutional order. 
   
   It's because of this that we adhere to Articles 305 and 333 of our Magna Carta. It is our duties as state security officials to we disarm this gang of thugs to restore peace to the people of Bolivar. President Maduro, we demand your immediate resignation along with all your ministers and that general elections be called immediately. 
   
   Brother in arms, we have two choices: to be judged tomorrow by our consciousness and the people, or to free the people from this corrupt government. 
   
   We are warriors of god and our mission is to serve the people. Long Live Venezuela! ||||| FILE - In this June 22, 2017 file photo, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro gives a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela. Maduro said a helicopter fired on Venezuela's Supreme Court in a confusing... (Associated Press) 
   
   FILE - In this June 22, 2017 file photo, Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro gives a news conference in Caracas, Venezuela. Maduro said a helicopter fired on Venezuela's Supreme Court in a confusing... (Associated Press) 
   
   CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — A police helicopter fired on Venezuela's Supreme Court and Interior Ministry in what President Nicolas Maduro said was a thwarted "terrorist attack" aimed at ousting him from power. 
   
   The confusing exchange, which is bound to ratchet up tensions in a country already paralyzed by months of deadly anti-government protests, took place as Maduro was speaking live on state television Tuesday. He later said the helicopter had fired on the pro-government court with grenades, one of which didn't go off, helping avoid any loss of life. 
   
   Adding to the intrigue, pictures of a blue police helicopter carrying an anti-government banner appeared on social media around the same time as a video in which an alleged police pilot, identified as Oscar Perez, called for a rebellion against Maduro's "tyranny" as part of a coalition of members of the country's security forces. Authorities said they were still searching for the man. 
   
   "We have two choices: be judged tomorrow by our conscience and the people or begin today to free ourselves from this corrupt government," the man said while reading from a statement with four people dressed in military fatigues, ski masks and carrying what looked like assault rifles standing behind him. 
   
   Many of Maduro's opponents took to social media to accuse the president of orchestrating an elaborate ruse to justify a crackdown against Venezuelans seeking to block his plans to rewrite the constitution. Venezuela has been roiled by anti-government protests the past three months that have left at least 75 people dead and hundreds injured. 
   
   After the incident, Maduro sounded alternately calm and angry as he told the audience about what had happened in the airspace just beyond the presidential palace. 
   
   "It could've caused a tragedy with several dozen dead and injured," he said, calling it a "terrorist attack." 
   
   Later, Information Minister Ernesto Villegas read a statement from the government accusing the helicopter of firing 15 shots against the Interior Ministry as a reception was taking place for 80 people celebrating national journalist's day. It then flew a short distance to the court, which was in session, and launched what he said were four Israeli-made grenades of "Colombian origin," two of them against national guardsmen protecting the building. 
   
   The pro-government president of the high court said there were no injuries from the attack and that the area was still being surveyed for damages. 
   
   Villegas said security forces were being deployed to apprehend Perez as well as recover the heisted German-built Bolkow helicopter. Photos of the pilot standing in front of the U.S. Capitol in Washington and a U.S. Coast Guard helicopter were displayed on state television to further bolster the government's case that he was taking instructions from the CIA and the U.S. Embassy. 
   
   Maduro said one of the pilots involved in the alleged attack used to fly for his former interior minister, Miguel Rodriguez Torres, who he accused of working for the CIA. Rodriguez Torres, who has been leading a campaign against Maduro made up of leftist supporters of the late Hugo Chavez, immediately dismissed the accusation as baseless. 
   
   As the drama was unfolding outside the court, inside magistrates were busy issuing a number of rulings further hemming in the opposition. One dismissed a challenge against Maduro's plans for a constitutional assembly by chief prosecutor Luisa Ortega Diaz, a longtime loyalist who broke with the government over the issue. 
   
   The helicopter incident capped a volatile 24 hours that began with widespread looting in the coastal city of Maracay on Monday night and continued Tuesday when opposition lawmakers got into a heated scuffle with security forces assigned to protect the National Assembly. 
   
   At least 68 supermarkets, pharmacies and liquor stores were looted and several government offices burned following anti-government protests in Maracay, which is about a 90 minute drive from Caracas. 
   
   Maduro condemned the violence but with a stern warning to his opponents that's likely to only further inflame an already tense situation. 
   
   "We will never surrender. And what we couldn't accomplish through votes we will with weapons," he said. 
   
   On Tuesday, opposition lawmakers got into fisticuffs with national guardsmen as they tried to enter the National Assembly. In a video circulating on social media, the commander of a national guard unit protecting the legislature aggressively shoved National Assembly President Julio Borges as he's walking away from a heated discussion. 
   
   At nightfall, a few dozen people were still gathered inside the neoclassical building as pro-government supporters stood outside threatening violence. 
   
   -- 
   
   Follow Goodman on Twitter: https://twitter.com/APjoshgoodman ||||| CARACAS (Reuters) - The Venezuelan government hunted on Wednesday for rogue policemen who attacked key installations by helicopter, but critics of President Nicolas Maduro suspected the raid may have been staged to justify repression. 
   
   In extraordinary scenes over Caracas around sunset on Tuesday, the stolen helicopter fired shots at the Interior Ministry and dropped grenades on the Supreme Court, both viewed by Venezuela’s opposition as bastions of support for a dictator. 
   
   Nobody was injured. 
   
   Officials said special forces were seeking Oscar Perez, 36, a police pilot named as the mastermind of the raid by the helicopter that carried a banner saying “Freedom!” 
   
   In 2015, Perez co-produced and starred in “Death Suspended,” an action film in which he played the lead role as a government agent rescuing a kidnapped businessman. 
   
   There was no sign on Wednesday of Perez, whom officials condemned as a “psychopath”, but the helicopter was found on Venezuela’s northern Caribbean coastline. 
   
   “We ask for maximum support to find this fanatic, extremist terrorist,” vice president Tareck El Aissami said. 
   
   The attack exacerbated an already full-blown political crisis in Venezuela after three months of opposition protests demanding general elections and fixes for the sinking economy. 
   
   At least 76 people have died in the unrest since April, the latest a 25-year-old man shot in the head near a protest in the Petare slum of Caracas, authorities said on Wednesday. 
   
   Hundreds more people have been injured and arrested in what Maduro terms an ongoing coup attempt with U.S. encouragement. 
   
   The attack fed a conspiracy theory by opposition supporters that it may have been a government setup and overshadowed other drama on Tuesday, including the besieging of opposition legislators by gangs in the National Assembly. 
   
   The helicopter raid also coincided with a judicial measure weakening the powers of dissident chief state prosecutor Luisa Ortega, who has emerged as a major challenger to Maduro. 
   
   “It seems like a movie,” said Julio Borges, leader of the opposition-controlled legislature, of the helicopter raid. 
   
   “Some people say it is a set-up, some that it is real ... Yesterday was full of contradictions ... A thousand things are happening, but I summarize it like this: a government is decaying and rotting, while a nation is fighting for dignity.” 
   
   Though Perez posted a video on social media showing himself in front of four hooded armed men and claiming to represent a coalition of security and civilian officials rising up against “tyranny,” there was no evidence of deeper support. 
   
   “CHEAP SHOW” 
   
   The government, however, accused the policemen of links to the CIA and to Miguel Rodriguez, a former interior minister and intelligence chief under Maduro and his predecessor Hugo Chavez, who recently broke with the government. 
   
   “I’m not at all convinced by the helicopter incident,” Rodriguez told Reuters on Wednesday, saying the figures behind Perez in the video looked like dummies and expressing surprise the helicopter could fly freely and also not injure anyone. 
   
   FILE PHOTO: Police official Oscar Perez poses for photographs during an event of the Body of Scientific, Penal and Criminal Investigation (CICPC) in Caracas, Venezuela March 1, 2015. REUTERS/Christian Veron 
   
   “Conclusion: a cheap show. Who gains from this? Only Nicolas for two reasons: to give credibility to his coup d’etat talk, and to blame Rodriguez,” he added, referring to himself. 
   
   Around the time of the attack, the pro-government Supreme Court expanded the role of the state ombudsman, a human rights guarantor who is closely allied with Maduro, by giving him powers previously held only by the state prosecutor’s office. 
   
   Opposition leaders described that as an attempt to supplant chief prosecutor Ortega, who has confronted both Maduro and the Supreme Court this year after splitting ranks. 
   
   The Supreme Court on Wednesday evening said it approved a measure blocking Ortega from leaving the country, freezing her bank accounts, and summoning her to a July 4 hearing to discuss whether she has committed “serious offenses.” 
   
   Adding to Venezuela’s tinder-box atmosphere, opposition supporters again took to the streets nationwide on Wednesday to barricade roads. 
   
   One opposition lawmaker, Juan Guaido, filmed himself bleeding from wounds he said were inflicted by rubber bullets. 
   
   Opposition supporters hope that cracks within government may swing the crisis their way, and have been delighted to see heavyweights like Ortega and Rodriguez oppose Maduro. 
   
   Their main focus is to stop a July 30 vote called by Maduro to form a super-body known as a Constituent Assembly, with powers to rewrite the constitution and supersede other institutions. Maduro says the assembly is the only way to bring peace to Venezuela, but opponents say it is a sham vote intended solely to keep an unpopular government in power. 
   
   “We can’t let July 30 happen, we mustn’t,” said children’s health worker Rosa Toro, 52, blocking a road with friends. “We’re being governed by criminals, traffickers and thieves,” added lawyer Matias Perez, 40, protesting with a plastic trumpet. 
   
   Government officials lined up on Wednesday to condemn the helicopter attack, insisting it was the work of a few individuals and not representative of wider dissent. 
   
   Slideshow (16 Images) 
   
   Foreign Minister Samuel Moncada complained about the lack of international condemnation of the attack, saying it contrasted with the barrage of foreign criticism of the government. 
   
   “In Europe it’s now eight at night, but we’ve not had any reaction from European Union countries,” he said of a bloc that has been strongly critical of Maduro in recent months. 
   
   The minister rejected accusations that the attack was carried out by the government for its own purposes. 
   
   “Who can believe we are that sophisticated? Sending someone to throw grenades, who can believe that?” he asked. ||||| Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption The helicopter circles buildings before gunshots and a bang are heard 
   
   A helicopter has attacked Venezuela's Supreme Court in what President Nicolás Maduro called a "terrorist" incident. 
   
   Four grenades were dropped on the court and 15 shots fired at the interior ministry on Tuesday, officials said. 
   
   Rogue policeman Oscar Pérez said he had piloted the stolen helicopter to attack what he called a "criminal government". His whereabouts are unknown. 
   
   Venezuela is in the midst of a political and economic crisis that has sparked mass protests. 
   
   Many of those opposed to Mr Maduro see the Supreme Court as one of his main supporters. 
   
   What happened in the attack? 
   
   A blue police helicopter was seen flying over central Caracas carrying a banner reading "350 Freedom" - a reference to a clause in the constitution cited by opponents of Mr Maduro to claim his government is illegitimate. 
   
   Images on social media showed two occupants, one masked. 
   
   The government said 15 shots were fired at a social event at the interior ministry. The helicopter then flew to the court and dropped four Israeli-made grenades of "Colombian origin". One failed to detonate. 
   
   No-one was injured. 
   
   How has the government responded? 
   
   President Maduro appeared on state television to denounce the attack. 
   
   He said: "I have activated the entire armed forces to defend the peace. And you can be assured that sooner or later, we are going to capture that helicopter and those that carried out this terror attack against the institutions of the country." 
   
   Image copyright EPA Image caption President Maduro is facing regular protests against his government 
   
   Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said the military had been deployed to apprehend the pilot and recover the German-built Bolkow helicopter. 
   
   State TV showed images of the pilot in front of the US Capitol building in Washington. 
   
   Mr Maduro has long claimed the US government is attempting to have him overthrown. 
   
   The government has urged calm but called for its supporters to rally outside the presidential palace on Wednesday morning. 
   
   And the opposition? 
   
   Freddy Guevara, of the opposition MUD alliance, said there was not yet enough information to comment on the attack. 
   
   But he posted a tweet on Wednesday calling on people to continue to oppose the Maduro government. 
   
   He said: "Maduro knows that nobody supports him, so today more than ever we must continue in the street, generating pressure to overcome this dictatorship!" 
   
   Some of the president's opponents took to social media to suggest he was responsible for staging the helicopter attack in order to justify a further crackdown on dissent. 
   
   Who flew the helicopter? 
   
   The police officer identified himself as Oscar Pérez in video statements posted on the social media platform Instagram. 
   
   Appearing in military fatigues and flanked by armed, masked men in uniform, he appealed to Venezuelans to oppose "tyranny". 
   
   Image copyright Instagram Image caption A police officer identifying himself as Oscar Pérez made a statement on Instagram 
   
   "We are a coalition of military employees, policemen and civilians who are looking for balance and are against this criminal government," he said. 
   
   "We don't belong to any political tendency or party. We are nationalists, patriots and institutionalists." 
   
   He said the "fight" was not against the security forces but "against the impunity of this government. It is against tyranny". 
   
   It is not clear how much support, if any, the officer has. 
   
   Mr Maduro said the pilot had previously worked for former Interior and Justice Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres, who the president has accused of links to the CIA. 
   
   Mr Rodriguez Torres quickly denied any involvement. 
   
   Analysis: Will Grant, BBC News, in Mexico 
   
   The sight of an apparently disaffected member of the security forces dropping grenades on the Supreme Court and allegedly firing on government buildings is extreme, even by Venezuela's standards. 
   
   Whether "Oscar Pérez" is indeed part of a coalition of like-minded "military employees, policemen and civilians" or just a rogue policeman is hard to say. 
   
   Certainly President Maduro was quick to dub the incident "a terrorist attack" and used it as a reason to "activate" the armed forces to keep the peace. 
   
   However, earlier in the day he, too, had thrown down the gauntlet to his opponents. "If the Bolivarian Revolution were to be destroyed," he said, "what couldn't be done with votes, we would do with arms." The opposition in Venezuela took that as an overt threat. 
   
   The security situation in Venezuela could hardly be worse ahead of a highly controversial election next month over the government's plans for a new constituent assembly. 
   
   Why now? 
   
   There have been almost daily anti-government protests in Venezuela for over two months as the country's economic and political crisis worsens. 
   
   Image copyright Reuters Image caption The Supreme Court in Caracas was the target of the attack 
   
   Those opposed to the government say they are determined to keep protests going until fresh elections are called and the government is ousted. 
   
   More than 70 people have been killed in protest-related violence since 1 April, according to the chief prosecutor's office. 
   
   Could this have been a coup attempt? 
   
   President Maduro was quick to suggest it was a coup attempt, but it is unclear how much support the police officer has. 
   
   Earlier on Tuesday, Mr Maduro reiterated his allegations that the US was supporting coup attempts against his government. 
   
   On Monday, he announced that five people had been arrested, accused of plotting against him and preparing for a US invasion. 
   
   Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Hugo Chávez is still a popular figure among supporters of Nicolas Maduro 
   
   However, Venezuela certainly has a history of coup attempts: 
   
   In 1992, the late Hugo Chávez tried to overthrow the government of President Carlos Andres Pérez. The attempt failed and Chávez was arrested and imprisoned. He would eventually be elected president in 1998 
   
   In 2002, Chávez himself survived an attempted coup by rebel military officers
target: – In what Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro called a "terrorist attack" by people seeking to overthrow his government, a police helicopter attacked government buildings in Caracas on Tuesday with bullets and grenades. Officials say the stolen helicopter fired 15 shots at the Interior Ministry before launching four grenades at the Supreme Court building, Reuters reports. There were no reports of deaths or injuries. In a statement posted online, the police officer believed to have piloted the helicopter, flanked by armed men, said he was part of "a coalition of military employees, policemen, and civilians who are looking for balance and are against this criminal government," the BBC reports. The officer, who identified himself as police pilot Oscar Perez, called for new elections to be held and said the coalition was fighting "tyranny," not security forces. Maduro, whose government has been targeted by violent protests that have left at least 75 people dead over the last three months, said the attack could have "caused a tragedy with several dozen dead and injured," the AP reports. He said the armed forces had been placed on alert. "I have activated the entire armed forces to defend the peace," Maduro said. "Sooner or later, we are going to capture that helicopter and those who carried out this terror attack."