El Junquito raid

The El Junquito raid (codenamed Operation Gideon) was a police and military raid that occurred on 15 January 2018 in El Junquito, Capital District, Venezuela, which resulted in the death of rebel Óscar Alberto Pérez and members of his movement.

For years, Venezuela has suffered from a political and economic crisis following the presidency of Hugo Chávez and his successor Nicolás Maduro. Óscar Alberto Pérez has stated that, while working as a law enforcement agent, he witnessed deep levels of corruption within the Bolivarian government's structure, experiencing the collaboration between state authorities and pro-government gangs known as the colectivos in acts of theft and extortion while also observing the movement of cocaine by government officials with impunity. He singled out Néstor Reverol as an official who hampered his investigations into the matters.

Pérez expressed in interviews how he had thought about incorporating his helicopter skills in a protest for some time. Finally in mid-June 2017, Pérez's brother was murdered near Carabobo Park in Caracas. It was determined that his brother was stabbed to death while being robbed of his cell phone.

Weeks later on the afternoon of 27 June 2017, a video was released showing men with assault rifles flanking Pérez, stating that "We are nationalists, patriots and institutionalists. This fight is not with the rest of the state forces, it is against the tyranny of this government".

Hours after the video was released, Pérez was seen piloting a CICPC helicopter over the Supreme Tribunal of Justice with a banner on the side reading "350 Liberty", a reference to Article 350 of the constitution which states that "The people of Venezuela ... shall disown any regime, legislation or authority that violates democratic values, principles and guarantees or encroaches upon human rights". While the helicopter was near the Supreme Court, gunfire was heard in the area. President Maduro stated that a military rebellion had occurred while opposition officials said that the actions were staged so Maduro could justify a crackdown on those who oppose his government and the constituent assembly.

On 18 December, Pérez successfully implemented "Operation Genesis", which resulted in the theft of 26 rifles and 3 automatic pistols from a command station of the National Guard in Los Teques, Miranda state. The surprise attack resulted in no deaths, with Pérez and about 50 other rebels gagging and tying up the National Guardsmen, ridiculing them for supporting the Bolivarian Government, asking "Why do you continue to defend drug traffickers, some real terrorists? ... Be worthy of the uniform you are wearing, you are irresponsible, traitors to the country for not doing something". The group then destroyed images of President Maduro and Hugo Chávez, Maduro's predecessor.

President Maduro responded, stating "Wherever they appear, I have ordered the Armed Forces, 'Lead for the terrorist groups! Lead them, compadre!' ... zero tolerance with terrorist groups that threaten with weapons the peace of the Republic."^{[citation needed]}

On 15 January 2018, the Venezuelan Army and the Venezuelan National Guard launched an operation after discovering the location of Pérez, who was held up in the El Junquito parish of Capital District. Around 4:00 AM VST (8:00 AM UTC), about 500 troops were deployed to attack Pérez and his compatriots at their location. Around 6:45 AM VST (10:45 AM UTC), Pérez released video stating that his group had been fired upon, though he mentioned that negotiations were underway.