Caracas Chronicles

On April 6th, Venezuelan journalist Nairobi Pinto, who works as head of correspondents for the TV news channel Globovision, was kidnapped by masked individuals outside of her home in Caracas. Eight days later, she was found alive and well in the town of Cúa (Miranda State).

Her kidnapping was a source of concern not only for her relatives and friends, but for the Venezuelan journalistic community (under the #LiberenANairobi campaign). Many questions over who were the people responsible and the reasons behind the crime remain unanswered, as the Venezuelan Criminal Investigations Police (CICPC) couldn’t find a possible motivation behind the incident.

For example, according to Vice-President Jorge Arreaza last Friday her captors never made any sort of contact with her family nor the authorities, but today Interior Minister Miguel Rodríguez Torres said that there were communications with them after all.

Also on Friday, Rodríguez Torres said that acccording to the investigations, there were no political motives behind the kidnapping. But days before that, he actually believed the opposite and said this:

It’s curious that in the area where the kidnapping took place (Los Chaguaramos), there was a very violent barricade (street blocked by debris, used in the guarimbas). In that regard, we found it curious that some robberies were reported… …Some groups were trying to take advantage of this enviroment…”

And now Rodríguez Torres (during today’s press conference) has changed his mind again and hinted that the kidnapping could have political reasons after all:

(The case of) this journalist has a certain peculiarity… her fate involves three vital sectors of society (the media, the Catholic Church as Pinto is a coordinator of a youth-related group and as a college student), specially when we’re in a process of dialogue.”

Pinto is a close friend of Gaby Arellano, a student leader and a strong promoter of the protests. She openly accused Rodríguez Torres of being somewhat involved in the kidnapping. This weekend, she said that agents of the Venezuelan Intelligence Service (SEBIN) were near her residence, with the possible intention of detaining her.

Nairobi is apparently OK, and the authorities are still looking for her captors. Only time will tell if the many questions and doubts that surround this crime will eventually be answered, or if the mystery will remain as such.