Angel Ciro Pedreáñez, one of the soldiers who were burnt in Fort Mara over a month ago, died today after appearing to be in better condition. Reportedly, he died while being operated for skin grafts of cardiac arrest. He is the second soldier to die from the fire in a case that gets more and more complicated as days go by.
Last week, it was reported that the soldiers were burnt using a flamethrower, a charge that was denied by the military. Last week, it was reported in the newspapers that Pedreáñez himself had testified that the fire began in the inside of the jail cell, leading to charges that the Government had pressured him to say that. But in a chilling interview released by his family today, which was reportedly taped on Monday he says (complete text in this link) that when he was falling sleep “a mf… appeared at the door and he lit like a pipe and the mattress caught fire and we garb them but they were ablaze they caught fire too fast and that is why we burnt all over”. They asked for help “but they could not open the lock, it took 20 minutes for the ambulance to arrive”
The family of the soldier claimed that he was murdered. The military at least showed total contempt for the family by not informing them of the soldiers death, which they learned about from the media.
The Attorney general suggested military justice should decline jurisdiction over the case, which was accepted by the Minister of Defense. Up to now, the military has covered the whole incident with a veil of secrecy, despite many claims that the truth will be known. Chavez himself had claimed the whole thing had been blown up out of proportion by the media a day before the first death and before the charges that the cellblock was burnt using a flamethrower. This has magnified the case even more, which can only get worse with the tragic death of the soldier and the damaging video he left behind.
The Devil's Excrement 
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