Gabriel Jesús Sarmiento, popularly known as El Chino, an influential Venezuelan TikTok content creator, targeted criminal organizations in Venezuela as well as the alleged corruption of police agencies. Tragically, he was shot and killed during that TikTok livestream. The raid occurred in Maracay, the capital of Aragua state, on [insert date]. His death has raised grave alarm over the commissions of social media influencers in Latin America. This is particularly the case for those who work on difficult or sensitive subjects.
Prior to this, Sarmiento had gained international notoriety for his viral online content which routinely highlighted the lucrative operations of these new, state-sponsored criminal organizations in Venezuela. He had been an outspoken critic of the Tren de Aragua crime gang, initially formed along the Aragua region’s borders. Police have not discovered any leads connecting the gang to his assassination. His suspicious death so soon after reporting unknown information raised questions as to what threats he might have been exposed to.
The Venezuelan Ministry of Public Safety confirmed Sarmiento’s death in an official Instagram post. In their Monday announcement, they said that there will be a community-based participatory process to investigate and charge those responsible. The case is under the jurisdiction of the 69th Prosecutor’s Office Against Organized Crime. This action underscores the administration’s deep commitment to addressing violence against public servants.
A recording of Sarmiento’s livestream, provided to CNN, caught a shocking scene. Viewers listened as a woman screamed offscreen, leading a man in the video to yell, “What happened, what happened? Unfortunately the livestream ended quite suddenly with a portrait of two unknown heavily armed men.
This shocking news follows the death of another influencer just weeks prior. In May, Valeria Marquez was shot while live-streaming from a salon in Jalisco, Mexico. Marquez’s death was, in the same way, a harsh reminder of the dangers that social media personalities who dive into contentious topics face.
