CARACAS (REUTERS) - Rogue Venezuelan helicopter pilot Oscar Perez was killed in a police operation on Monday along with six other members of a "terrorist cell," the interior minister said on Tuesday (Jan 16), spurring opposition complaints of human rights violations. Perez, a photogenic ex police officer who once starred in an action film, last year used a stolen helicopter to attack government buildings and stole weapons from a military base in what he called a rebellion against President Nicolas Maduro. The Information Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. At the height of street protests against President Nicolas Maduro last June, Perez and unidentified accomplices flew over Caracas in a police helicopter and dropped four grenades on the Supreme Court before opening fire on the interior ministry. “Prior to his death, Perez uploaded videos of the assault on his hideout and his pleas for surrender to social media.”

Mr. Halvorssen Mendoza was quoted in the statement as saying the operation against Mr. Perez was “proof … that Nicolas Maduro is a ruthless dictator.”
Two police officers and several gunmen are killed near Caracas in an operation to capture Óscar Pérez, the rogue pilot responsible for the Caracas helicopter incident on June 27, 2017, according to the Venezuelan government. Five people have also been arrested.