On April 30, 2025, armed individuals, self-identified as plainclothes police officers, forcibly entered the student center at the Faculty of Law and Political Science (FACIJUP) at the University of Los Andes. They assaulted and threatened a group of students from the Fuerza ULA movement.

Six members of the Fuerza ULA political committee were meeting in the Law Students’ Center when seven armed men entered. Despite not wearing uniforms, they identified themselves as police intelligence officers. The men forced all six of the students to the ground at gunpoint, took their wallets, cell phones, and laptops, and threatened the students with arrest.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about police threatening and intimidating students, apparently to prevent them from exercising their rights to freedom of expression and assembly. While state authorities have a responsibility to maintain order and safety, they must do so in a manner that is proportionate and does not violate fundamental human rights, including the rights to freedom of expression and assembly. In addition to the harm to the immediate victims, such acts to prevent nonviolent student expression undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.

Sources:
*This incident was identified by Aula Abierta, a member of the Coalition for Academic Freedom in the America’s Monitoring Working Group.
https://www.uladdhh.org.ve/agresion-funcionarios-armados-facijup-ula/ https://diariodelosandes.com/merida-estudiante-de-la-ula-denuncia-agresion-de-funcionarios-armados-en-la-facultad-de-ciencias-juridicas-y-politicas/