Published at: 04/06/2025 08:00 PM

(WHAT'S UP, May 20, 1966)

• Two years after his arrest and subsequent disappearance, the remains of Trino Barrios and 12 other detainees were found at the Hacienda Los Colorados del edo. Guárico.
• What's happening in Venezuela, in its 96th edition of May 20, 1966, confirmed the appearance of the bones of the peasant leader Trino Barrios, who was shot along with 12 other peasants at the Los Colorados Ranch, in Sabana Grande de Orituco del Edo. Guárico.
• At the doors of the aforementioned farm, members of the armed gangs of Democratic Action (AD) placed a sign that read “So Far Came Commander Sánchez”, referring to the disappeared Trino Barrios.
• Pura Soto de Rojas was the one who triggered the discovery of this government death grave, when he was looking for the remains of his missing son, Víctor Soto Rojas, and a farmer informed him about what happened to the detainees who were shot at the Hacienda Los Colorados.
• The news of the appearance of these bodies established that they belonged to young people shot in various pastures in that area, and the identification of the municipal leaders of AD, who were linked to the shootings, was made public.
• It was also announced that the complaints about this wave of shootings in the Guarique area of Altagracia de Orituco and El Bachiller were not prosecuted or released by the traditional press. Rather, they concealed the information.
• The discovery of the body of Trino Barrios and 12 people buried in that town was mainly due to the complaint filed by Pura Soto de Rojas and to the peasants alarmed by the action taken by the military bodies, in combination with the ruling party, in the midst of the persecution unleashed by the Government of Raúl Leoni.
• Trino Barrios and Víctor Soto Rojas were arrested two years earlier, on July 22, 1964, by members of armed AD gangs and members of the National Guard in the vicinity of Altagracia de Orituco.
• They were then handed over to a commission of the General Directorate of Police (DIGEPOL), led by J.J. Patiño González, and transferred to its headquarters in Los Chaguaramos.
• After suffering continuous and atrocious torture**, Víctor Soto Rojas** was taken to the Anti-Guerrilla Operations Theater in Cúpira, edo. Miranda, under the command of Captain Héctor Peña, who, in addition to torturing him, ordered several simulated shootings to be applied to him, before putting him on a helicopter to disappear. To this day, his whereabouts are unknown.

Mazo News Team