University students protest conference on Nicolás Maduro in Venezuela

University students in Venezuela protested on Monday against a conference held at the Central University of Venezuela (UCV), the country's main academic institution. The event was scheduled to feature Nicolás Maduro Guerra, son of the deposed president, and aimed to reflect on the "historical picture" of Venezuela. Protesters displayed banners with messages such as "UCV is a space free of torturers," "What are your father's achievements? Suffocating the university?" and "UCV has memory." Rosa Cucunuba, a student activist, stated that the protest rejected the presence of Maduro Guerra, who was invited to honor the memory of his father. She highlighted the reality of "empty classrooms" as students have left, professors struggling with "joke salaries," and the persecution of students. Octavio González, another activist, accused Maduro Guerra of attempting to "clean up the image" of his father. He asserted that such efforts would fail to erase the memory of "27 years of misery" and "misfortune" under the current government. The conference's stated objective was to analyze Venezuela's situation since January 3 of this year, the date when the U.S. captured Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, during a military operation in Caracas. The U.S. has charged Maduro with conspiracy to commit terrorism and drug trafficking, while Flores faces charges related to drug trafficking conspiracy and weapons possession. Both are currently detained in Brooklyn and are scheduled to appear in court again on July 22.

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El día de hoy el equipo de elecciones libres vino a hacer una protesta (...) para rechazar categóricamente la presencia de Nicolás Maduro Guerra en la Universidad Central de Venezuela, porque vienen a honrar la memoria de Nicolás Maduro