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Rogue cop behind helicopter attack in Venezuela is Rambo-style movie actor Oscar Perez

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Investigative police pilot Oscar Perez reads a statement from an undisclosed location on Tuesday in this still image taken from a video. Photo: Instagram / @oscarperezgv

The rogue police officer behind a helicopter attack on Venezuelan government buildings is also an action film star who paints himself as a James-Bond-Rambo figure on social media.

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The government of President Nicolas Maduro said Oscar Perez, a strapping pilot, diver and parachutist, was responsible for firing shots and lobbing grenades on the Interior Ministry and the Supreme Court after hijacking the helicopter.

In a social media video, Perez said he was fighting a tyrannical, vile government.

Perez, 36, directed and starred in a 2015 Venezuelan action movie called Suspended Death about the rescue of a kidnapped businessman, which includes scenes of him firing a rifle from a helicopter and emerging from water in scuba gear.

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He has an unusually public profile for the usually tight-lipped and secretive investigative police.

Perez has given interviews about his film and maintained a colourful Instagram feed with images of him riding horseback in combat gear, scuba-diving with rifles and pistols, and jumping out of a helicopter with a dog.
Oscar Perez appears to be the man (right) piloting the helicopter involved in Tuesday’s attack on Venezuela’s Supreme Court. Photo: Twitter
Oscar Perez appears to be the man (right) piloting the helicopter involved in Tuesday’s attack on Venezuela’s Supreme Court. Photo: Twitter
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