MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Chavista lawmaker stabbed at his home in Caracas: “intentional homicide” argues government

The victims died of hemorrhagic shock after they were stabbed with a “sharp, penetrating weapon,” Justice Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres said.

Robert Serra, a young “Chavista” ruling party lawmaker, died after being stabbed in his home in Caracas in an “intentional homicide,” government officials said, in Venezuela's latest high-profile violent crime.

 Serra, 27, and Maria Herrera - whom officials said was Serra's companion - were killed at his residence in the impoverished La Pastora neighborhood of the Venezuelan capital.

The victims died of hemorrhagic shock after they were stabbed with a “sharp, penetrating weapon,” Interior and Justice Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres said.

“This is not a random incident committed by common criminals, this is an intentional homicide, planned and executed with great precision,” Rodriguez Torres said.

Government officials described Herrera Thursday as Serra's “companion” after saying she was his romantic partner. The nature of their relationship couldn't immediately be verified.

Torres urged the political opposition to refrain from turning Serra's death into a “media circus.”

One of the youngest members of the National Assembly, Serra was a lawyer with a Master's Degree in criminology, media reports said. He was an avowed 'Chavista' - a supporter of the populist political ideology of the country's late former president, Hugo Chavez.

He rose to prominence as a student leader and was seen as one of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela's (PSUV) most promising young leaders.

Critics had raped his perceived aggressive political style and ties with radical fringe groups. Local media reports said two of Serra's escorts have been killed in recent years.

Serra's death puts the spotlight again on violent crime in Venezuela, which has one of the world's highest homicide rates.

Venezuela's official homicide rate last year was 39 per 100,000 people, but non-government organizations put the figure at nearly twice that for a total of 24,000 deaths.