2002-2020: Ivan Simonovis, Police Captain, Imprisoned for 15 years, Guest of President Trump

Ivan Simonovis began his career as a policeman in 1981. In 2000, Simonovis was appointed Secretary of Security for the Caracas mayor’s office. The mayor was Alfredo Pena, a staunch critic of President Hugo Chavez.

On April 11, 2002, over 100,000 anti-Chavez protesters began an authorized march in Caracas. The marchers changed direction and began an unauthorized march toward the Presidential Palace, Miraflores to demand Chavez resign. Their route would have taken them under the Llaguno Bridge Overpass where hundreds of Chavez supporters had gathered. A shootout took place between the Chavez supporters on the Bridge and police sharpshooters on the street below. The police claimed that the Chavez supporters had been shooting at the anti-Chavez marchers and that the police shooters were protecting the protesters. Video footage showed that the street below was empty with no protestors present and that the pro-Chavez shooters on the Bridge were shooting back at the police.[1] [2] 19 people were shot and killed, most by headshots.

Government supporters accused Mayor Pena of ordering the shooting. Pena fled to the United States in 2004. Two witnesses identified Simonovis as one of the officers who ordered the police to fire. Simonovis was arrested on November 22, 2004. He was charged with sending orders via radio to the police to fire at the people on the Bridge. He was tried jointly with Lazaro Forero and Henry Vivas. Their trial started in March 2006 and lasted for three years and 14 days. During the trial, 235 hearings were held and 265 expert reports,5700 photos and 20 videos were presented.198 witnesses and 48 experts testified. It was the longest trial in Venezuelan history. At the trial, eight police officers testified against Simonovis. [3]

The trial ended on April 2, 2009 with the Court announcing the sentence on April 3, 2010. Simonovis (and his co-defendants) were sentenced to 30 years in jail. His appeal of the sentence was ruled to be without merit. In September 2014, Simonovis was transferred from jail to house arrest due to his health. His release was denounced by the victims of the 2002 violence [4] He escaped from his home on May 16, 2019 and made his way to the United States. In 2019, the U.S. recognized Juan Guaido as President of Venezuela and Guaido named Simonovis as Security and Intelligence Commissioner. Simonovis met with President Trump and was a guest for Trump’s 2020 State of the Union address to Congress. Simonovis’ White House Biography stated: “Ivan Simonovis , the former police chief in Venezuela’s capital was imprisoned in 2004 for protecting protesters and was held in captivity for nearly 15 years.”[5]



1.      Schiller, Naomi, Framing the Revolution: Circulation and Meaning of The Revolution will Not be Televised, Mass Communication and Society, 12:478-502

2.      New York Times, FILM REVIEW; Tumult in Venezuela’s Presidential Palace, Seen Up Close, November 5, 2003

3.      Bagdadi, Nicole, When the Victim Becomes the Criminal: The Case of Ivan Simonovis, ILSA Journal of International & Comparative Law, 2013

4.      Victims of 2002 Venezuelan Coup Denounce Double Standards of Justice after Ivan Simonovis’ Release, Venezuelanalysis, September 23, 2014.

5.    Politico, White House releases guest list for Trump’s SOTU address, February 4, 2020

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