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Venezuela Protests
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Top Comment from Reddit:
http://www.reddit.com/r/worldnews/comments/1xqzfp/this_is_caracas_venezuela_right_now_this_is_an/
Vrotappel
Bulls fan
When socialism falls apart.
OrbitalDawn
Ulysses Everett McGill
But but... I thought Chavez was so great?! What happened?
Vrotappel
Bulls fan
Socialism falls apart when those you give to exceed those you take from.
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Fears of more protest clashes high in Venezuela
Fears of more clashes between pro- and anti-government supporters ratcheted up in Venezuela as both sides prepared to march in the capital Tuesday and opposition leader Leonardo Lopez dared authorities to arrest him when he reappears in public.
The competing demonstrations loomed one day after President Nicolas Maduro's government gave three U.S. Embassy officials 48 hours to leave the country, claiming they were supporting what he says are opposition plots to topple his socialist administration. The U.S. denied that.
Supporters of Lopez, who is Maduro's strongest foe and the target of an arrest order, rerouted their protest march away from the central plaza in Caracas where pro-government oil workers planned their own demonstration.
The Venezuelan government accuses the Obama administration of siding with student protesters it has blamed for violence that led to three deaths last week. Maduro claims the U.S. is trying to stir up unrest to regain dominance of South America's largest oil producer.
In Washington, the State Department said allegations that the U.S. is helping to organize protests are "baseless and false" and called on Venezuela's government to engage the opposition in "meaningful dialogue."
Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said Monday that the three senior U.S. consular officers are being expelled because they tried to infiltrate Venezuelan universities under the cover of doing visa outreach. Maduro has expelled American diplomats twice before.
The State Department said Monday it hadn't received any formal notification of the expulsions of the three senior officials, who Jaua said were all second secretaries.
Hundreds of students have spent the past week in the streets of Caracas alternating between peaceful protests by day and pitched battles with police at night in unrest fed by hardships that include rampant crime, 56 percent inflation and shortages of basic goods.
Three people were killed in clashes Wednesday - two students and a pro-government demonstrator. News videos and photographs taken at the time indicate at least one of the students was killed when pro-government militia members fired directly into a crowd of protesters.
On Monday they marched to Venezuela's telecommunications regulator to demand it lift all restrictions on the news media's coverage of the unfolding political crisis. Police repelled the activists with tear gas and rubber bullets, but there were no reports of serious injuries.
Later Monday, a crowd of anti-government activists wrested a handcuffed opposition politician away from security forces following a raid on the headquarters of Lopez's Popular Will party.
Surrounded by journalists and party activists in a shopping mall where the arrest was made, national guardsmen hustled a handcuffed Dario Ramirez frantically looking for an escape route. Once outside, dozens of activists banging pots and pans in protest swarmed over the squad, pulling the city councilman to freedom and speeding him away on a motorcycle.
Lopez also was being sought by authorities on an arrest order stemming from last week's violence, listing charges from homicide to vandalism of public property. Maduro accuses Lopez of being behind the violence and leading a "fascist" plot to overthrow him.
Lopez said Sunday that he didn't fear going to jail to defend his beliefs and called on supporters to march with him on Tuesday to the Interior Ministry, where he planned to deliver a petition demanding protection for protesting citizens.
"I haven't committed any crime," Lopez said in a video. "If there is a decision to legally throw me in jail I'll submit myself to this persecution."
Source : Sapa-AP /kd
Date : 18 Feb 2014 07:15
Fears of more clashes between pro- and anti-government supporters ratcheted up in Venezuela as both sides prepared to march in the capital Tuesday and opposition leader Leonardo Lopez dared authorities to arrest him when he reappears in public.
The competing demonstrations loomed one day after President Nicolas Maduro's government gave three U.S. Embassy officials 48 hours to leave the country, claiming they were supporting what he says are opposition plots to topple his socialist administration. The U.S. denied that.
Supporters of Lopez, who is Maduro's strongest foe and the target of an arrest order, rerouted their protest march away from the central plaza in Caracas where pro-government oil workers planned their own demonstration.
The Venezuelan government accuses the Obama administration of siding with student protesters it has blamed for violence that led to three deaths last week. Maduro claims the U.S. is trying to stir up unrest to regain dominance of South America's largest oil producer.
In Washington, the State Department said allegations that the U.S. is helping to organize protests are "baseless and false" and called on Venezuela's government to engage the opposition in "meaningful dialogue."
Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said Monday that the three senior U.S. consular officers are being expelled because they tried to infiltrate Venezuelan universities under the cover of doing visa outreach. Maduro has expelled American diplomats twice before.
The State Department said Monday it hadn't received any formal notification of the expulsions of the three senior officials, who Jaua said were all second secretaries.
Hundreds of students have spent the past week in the streets of Caracas alternating between peaceful protests by day and pitched battles with police at night in unrest fed by hardships that include rampant crime, 56 percent inflation and shortages of basic goods.
Three people were killed in clashes Wednesday - two students and a pro-government demonstrator. News videos and photographs taken at the time indicate at least one of the students was killed when pro-government militia members fired directly into a crowd of protesters.
On Monday they marched to Venezuela's telecommunications regulator to demand it lift all restrictions on the news media's coverage of the unfolding political crisis. Police repelled the activists with tear gas and rubber bullets, but there were no reports of serious injuries.
Later Monday, a crowd of anti-government activists wrested a handcuffed opposition politician away from security forces following a raid on the headquarters of Lopez's Popular Will party.
Surrounded by journalists and party activists in a shopping mall where the arrest was made, national guardsmen hustled a handcuffed Dario Ramirez frantically looking for an escape route. Once outside, dozens of activists banging pots and pans in protest swarmed over the squad, pulling the city councilman to freedom and speeding him away on a motorcycle.
Lopez also was being sought by authorities on an arrest order stemming from last week's violence, listing charges from homicide to vandalism of public property. Maduro accuses Lopez of being behind the violence and leading a "fascist" plot to overthrow him.
Lopez said Sunday that he didn't fear going to jail to defend his beliefs and called on supporters to march with him on Tuesday to the Interior Ministry, where he planned to deliver a petition demanding protection for protesting citizens.
"I haven't committed any crime," Lopez said in a video. "If there is a decision to legally throw me in jail I'll submit myself to this persecution."
Source : Sapa-AP /kd
Date : 18 Feb 2014 07:15
The_Assimilator
Executive Member
Venezuela is well on track to become South America's Zimbabwe.
grok
Honorary Master
Wow, that is a decent sized crowd they got going there ..
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Fugitive Venezuelan opposition leader turns himself in
Fugitive Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez turned himself into police Tuesday at a march by thousands of his supporters.
Lopez, blamed by President Nicolas Maduro for violent clashes that left three people dead last week, appeared at an anti-government rally in eastern Caracas and quickly surrendered to police.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mjs
Date : 18 Feb 2014 19:27
Fugitive Venezuelan opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez turned himself into police Tuesday at a march by thousands of his supporters.
Lopez, blamed by President Nicolas Maduro for violent clashes that left three people dead last week, appeared at an anti-government rally in eastern Caracas and quickly surrendered to police.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mjs
Date : 18 Feb 2014 19:27
Only a right wing nut like Alan would use the word 'intellectual' as an insult.
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Venezuela deploys more paratroopers after more protests
by Sofia MISELEM
The Venezuelan government ordered paratroopers Thursday to a border city where growing student protests began over two weeks ago, with President Nicolas Maduro angrily rejecting US calls for dialogue.
The nationwide demonstrations, led by students and the opposition, have left at least four people dead and dozens hurt in the biggest challenge to Maduro since he took power from the late Hugo Chavez last year.
There have been near-daily protests and rallies, some of them violent, in the capital Caracas and other cities, over what Maduro's critics say are deteriorating economic conditions, rampant street crime, corruption and bleak job prospects.
Maduro's leftist government -- which is sitting on the world's largest proven oil reserves -- rushed a battalion of paratroopers to the city of San Cristobal, birthplace of the demonstrations that began on February 4.
The military response came in response to claims from the government that Colombians were crossing the border there "to carry out paramilitary missions" in Venezuela.
Shops were closed and streets eerie in San Cristobal, capital of the western border state of Tachira, where there have been almost daily clashes between protesters and security forces.
Maduro meanwhile threatened to block CNN over what he called the US broadcaster's "propaganda war," and shot back at Barack Obama, who has urged Venezuela to release detained protesters and address the "legitimate grievances" of its people.
Maduro's government said it "emphatically repudiates" Obama's remarks, accusing the US president of "a new and crude interference in the internal affairs of our country."
On Sunday, Maduro ordered the expulsion of three US diplomats, accusing them of meeting student leaders to conspire under the guise of offering them visas. Washington denies the allegations.
Maduro also came under attack from US pop icon Madonna, who Thursday accused Maduro's government of "fascism" over its handling of the roiling demonstrations.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who has kept a low profile during the protests, challenged Maduro to prove his claims that the demonstrations were part of a conspiracy to overthrow his government.
"Is this a coup or an auto-coup?" he asked. "The only one who has talked about a coup d'etat has been the government. It is a fabrication by government actors," he said.
Prominent opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who has helped spearhead the protests, is being held at a military jail where his lawyers say he could remain for up to 45 days awaiting trial.
Lopez, a 42-year-old Harvard-educated economist, has been charged with instigating violence, property damage and criminal association -- but not murder, as had been threatened.
Student protest leaders called Thursday for a march for peace, urging "Venezuelan civil society to respond to the violence with white flowers."
The students convened a rally, with flowers, in Las Mercedes, an upscale Caracas neighborhood of embassies, trendy restaurants and luxury condominiums.
But their plea fell on deaf ears, with yet more disturbances in other parts of the capital.
Late Wednesday in Caracas, police fired tear gas and buckshot to disperse hundreds of anti-government protesters. Burning barricades, police assaults, and intimidating sweeps by pro-government civilians on motorcycles kept residents on edge through the night.
The archbishop of Caracas appealed to the government to rein in "armed groups" who he said were "acting freely, with impunity."
"How is it possible that there could be eight or nine wounded in Valencia and a girl dead in the vilest manner simply because an armed group attacked a peaceful protest," Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino said.
He was referring to the latest fatality -- a 21-year-old beauty queen who was shot in the head Tuesday at a protest rally in the northern city of Valencia.
When reports first linked violence in an earlier shooting incident February 12 to armed groups that appeared to be working in concert with security forces, Maduro said those groups had no place on the government's side.
"I do not accept violent groups in the Chavismo camp," he said.
Source : Sapa-AFP /kd
Date : 21 Feb 2014 04:48
by Sofia MISELEM
The Venezuelan government ordered paratroopers Thursday to a border city where growing student protests began over two weeks ago, with President Nicolas Maduro angrily rejecting US calls for dialogue.
The nationwide demonstrations, led by students and the opposition, have left at least four people dead and dozens hurt in the biggest challenge to Maduro since he took power from the late Hugo Chavez last year.
There have been near-daily protests and rallies, some of them violent, in the capital Caracas and other cities, over what Maduro's critics say are deteriorating economic conditions, rampant street crime, corruption and bleak job prospects.
Maduro's leftist government -- which is sitting on the world's largest proven oil reserves -- rushed a battalion of paratroopers to the city of San Cristobal, birthplace of the demonstrations that began on February 4.
The military response came in response to claims from the government that Colombians were crossing the border there "to carry out paramilitary missions" in Venezuela.
Shops were closed and streets eerie in San Cristobal, capital of the western border state of Tachira, where there have been almost daily clashes between protesters and security forces.
Maduro meanwhile threatened to block CNN over what he called the US broadcaster's "propaganda war," and shot back at Barack Obama, who has urged Venezuela to release detained protesters and address the "legitimate grievances" of its people.
Maduro's government said it "emphatically repudiates" Obama's remarks, accusing the US president of "a new and crude interference in the internal affairs of our country."
On Sunday, Maduro ordered the expulsion of three US diplomats, accusing them of meeting student leaders to conspire under the guise of offering them visas. Washington denies the allegations.
Maduro also came under attack from US pop icon Madonna, who Thursday accused Maduro's government of "fascism" over its handling of the roiling demonstrations.
Opposition leader Henrique Capriles, who has kept a low profile during the protests, challenged Maduro to prove his claims that the demonstrations were part of a conspiracy to overthrow his government.
"Is this a coup or an auto-coup?" he asked. "The only one who has talked about a coup d'etat has been the government. It is a fabrication by government actors," he said.
Prominent opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, who has helped spearhead the protests, is being held at a military jail where his lawyers say he could remain for up to 45 days awaiting trial.
Lopez, a 42-year-old Harvard-educated economist, has been charged with instigating violence, property damage and criminal association -- but not murder, as had been threatened.
Student protest leaders called Thursday for a march for peace, urging "Venezuelan civil society to respond to the violence with white flowers."
The students convened a rally, with flowers, in Las Mercedes, an upscale Caracas neighborhood of embassies, trendy restaurants and luxury condominiums.
But their plea fell on deaf ears, with yet more disturbances in other parts of the capital.
Late Wednesday in Caracas, police fired tear gas and buckshot to disperse hundreds of anti-government protesters. Burning barricades, police assaults, and intimidating sweeps by pro-government civilians on motorcycles kept residents on edge through the night.
The archbishop of Caracas appealed to the government to rein in "armed groups" who he said were "acting freely, with impunity."
"How is it possible that there could be eight or nine wounded in Valencia and a girl dead in the vilest manner simply because an armed group attacked a peaceful protest," Cardinal Jorge Urosa Savino said.
He was referring to the latest fatality -- a 21-year-old beauty queen who was shot in the head Tuesday at a protest rally in the northern city of Valencia.
When reports first linked violence in an earlier shooting incident February 12 to armed groups that appeared to be working in concert with security forces, Maduro said those groups had no place on the government's side.
"I do not accept violent groups in the Chavismo camp," he said.
Source : Sapa-AFP /kd
Date : 21 Feb 2014 04:48
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Opposition denounces 'brutal repression'
The Venezuelan military planned to send additional troops to a border region where unrest has been particularly fierce, officials said Thursday, as the government faced growing criticism for its heavy-handed attempt to subdue a protest movement with nighttime sweeps that have turned many parts of the country into dangerous free-fire zones.
A battalion of paratroopers would be dispatched to the state of Tachira, on the western border with Colombia, where protesters have clashed with police and National Guard units, bringing the capital city, San Cristobal, to a halt, Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres said.
"These units will enable the city to function, so food can get in, so people can go about their normal lives," Rodriguez said. "It's simply meant to restore order."
Members of the opposition have charged that the government of President Nicolas Maduro is leaning too heavily on the military as well as police and civilian militias to squash opposition to his socialist government.
San Cristobal Vice Mayor Sergio Vergara, a member of the opposition, said the government had already cut off vital services, including public transportation and the Internet, to crack down on what had been peaceful protests against a government of a country that is rich in oil but struggling with inflation above 56 percent and one of the highest homicide rates in the world.
The presence of some 3,000 troops in a city of 600,000, Vergar said, is "effectively part of an effort at repression being played out by the government across the country."
Violence has been escalating across Venezuela since a Feb. 12 opposition rally that turned violent and left three people dead. Since then, there have been at least three more deaths as well as dozens of injuries and arrests.
Police, National Guard troops and members of private militias have swarmed through streets in the capital and elsewhere firing volleys, at times indiscriminately, in repeated spasms of nighttime violence in recent days.
Henrique Capriles, the two-time presidential candidate of an opposition coalition, said the government has engaged in "brutal repression" as it goes after students and other protesters, in some cases breaking into apartment buildings to arrest those it accuses of taking part in a an attempted coup.
"What does the government want, a civil war?" Capriles asked at a news conference.
David Smolansky, an opposition mayor of a district in Caracas, said the country is passing through the harshest wave of political persecution in decades with the response to the protests and the jailing of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. "If this isn't a totalitarian system then I don't know what can explain what is happening in this country," Smolansky said.
While several large demonstrations by thousands of people have been peaceful, smaller groups of protesters have lobbed gas bombs and rocks and blocked streets with flaming barricades of trash. Troops and police have responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and blasts from water cannons - as well as raids by gun-firing men on motorcycle.
Jose Leon, a 20-year-old business student who took part in a demonstration in the Altamira neighborhood of Caracas on Wednesday night, said authorities who roughly detained students and fired tear gas over-reacted to a peaceful protest.
"We've spent years trying for peaceful dialogue. How can you talk with a government that hunts down its own citizens like criminals?" Leon said as he took part in a small protest on Thursday in the same spot.
The clashes with authorities as well as the pursuit of anti-government activists by troops and militias take place in darkness. During the day, the capital has largely operated as normal, with businesses and schools open and people going about their business, while stocking up on groceries in case of further unrest.
President Maduro and his supporters say the escalating protests against his socialist government in the oil-rich but economically struggling country are part of an attempted coup sponsored by right-wing and "fascist" opponents in Venezuela and abroad, particularly the United States.
Maduro has vowed to crack down on the protests, particularly in Tachira, on the western border with Colombia, where the unrest has been particularly strong. The interior ministry said Thursday it would send a battalion of paratroopers there to the area restore order.
Earlier Thursday, a judge ruled there was enough evidence to detain Lopez, the opposition leader who surrendered to authorities a day earlier, on charges that include arson and criminal incitement stemming from a massive Feb. 12 rally.
Prosecutors decided not to pursue more serious charges, including homicide and terrorism at a court appearance on a military base outside Caracas. The 42-year-old politician could face at least 10 years in prison.
In a message from his Twitter account, the opposition leader's wife, Lilian Tintori, urged his followers on as she announced the court decision. "Change is within us all," she wrote on his behalf. "Don't give up. I will not."
The opposition is planning marches across the country Saturday to protest the jailing of Lopez as well as well as the rampant crime, shortages of consumer goods and inflation rate of more than 50 percent that has made life difficult for many in the country of nearly 30 million people.
Source : Sapa-AP /kd
Date : 21 Feb 2014 04:50
The Venezuelan military planned to send additional troops to a border region where unrest has been particularly fierce, officials said Thursday, as the government faced growing criticism for its heavy-handed attempt to subdue a protest movement with nighttime sweeps that have turned many parts of the country into dangerous free-fire zones.
A battalion of paratroopers would be dispatched to the state of Tachira, on the western border with Colombia, where protesters have clashed with police and National Guard units, bringing the capital city, San Cristobal, to a halt, Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres said.
"These units will enable the city to function, so food can get in, so people can go about their normal lives," Rodriguez said. "It's simply meant to restore order."
Members of the opposition have charged that the government of President Nicolas Maduro is leaning too heavily on the military as well as police and civilian militias to squash opposition to his socialist government.
San Cristobal Vice Mayor Sergio Vergara, a member of the opposition, said the government had already cut off vital services, including public transportation and the Internet, to crack down on what had been peaceful protests against a government of a country that is rich in oil but struggling with inflation above 56 percent and one of the highest homicide rates in the world.
The presence of some 3,000 troops in a city of 600,000, Vergar said, is "effectively part of an effort at repression being played out by the government across the country."
Violence has been escalating across Venezuela since a Feb. 12 opposition rally that turned violent and left three people dead. Since then, there have been at least three more deaths as well as dozens of injuries and arrests.
Police, National Guard troops and members of private militias have swarmed through streets in the capital and elsewhere firing volleys, at times indiscriminately, in repeated spasms of nighttime violence in recent days.
Henrique Capriles, the two-time presidential candidate of an opposition coalition, said the government has engaged in "brutal repression" as it goes after students and other protesters, in some cases breaking into apartment buildings to arrest those it accuses of taking part in a an attempted coup.
"What does the government want, a civil war?" Capriles asked at a news conference.
David Smolansky, an opposition mayor of a district in Caracas, said the country is passing through the harshest wave of political persecution in decades with the response to the protests and the jailing of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. "If this isn't a totalitarian system then I don't know what can explain what is happening in this country," Smolansky said.
While several large demonstrations by thousands of people have been peaceful, smaller groups of protesters have lobbed gas bombs and rocks and blocked streets with flaming barricades of trash. Troops and police have responded with tear gas, rubber bullets and blasts from water cannons - as well as raids by gun-firing men on motorcycle.
Jose Leon, a 20-year-old business student who took part in a demonstration in the Altamira neighborhood of Caracas on Wednesday night, said authorities who roughly detained students and fired tear gas over-reacted to a peaceful protest.
"We've spent years trying for peaceful dialogue. How can you talk with a government that hunts down its own citizens like criminals?" Leon said as he took part in a small protest on Thursday in the same spot.
The clashes with authorities as well as the pursuit of anti-government activists by troops and militias take place in darkness. During the day, the capital has largely operated as normal, with businesses and schools open and people going about their business, while stocking up on groceries in case of further unrest.
President Maduro and his supporters say the escalating protests against his socialist government in the oil-rich but economically struggling country are part of an attempted coup sponsored by right-wing and "fascist" opponents in Venezuela and abroad, particularly the United States.
Maduro has vowed to crack down on the protests, particularly in Tachira, on the western border with Colombia, where the unrest has been particularly strong. The interior ministry said Thursday it would send a battalion of paratroopers there to the area restore order.
Earlier Thursday, a judge ruled there was enough evidence to detain Lopez, the opposition leader who surrendered to authorities a day earlier, on charges that include arson and criminal incitement stemming from a massive Feb. 12 rally.
Prosecutors decided not to pursue more serious charges, including homicide and terrorism at a court appearance on a military base outside Caracas. The 42-year-old politician could face at least 10 years in prison.
In a message from his Twitter account, the opposition leader's wife, Lilian Tintori, urged his followers on as she announced the court decision. "Change is within us all," she wrote on his behalf. "Don't give up. I will not."
The opposition is planning marches across the country Saturday to protest the jailing of Lopez as well as well as the rampant crime, shortages of consumer goods and inflation rate of more than 50 percent that has made life difficult for many in the country of nearly 30 million people.
Source : Sapa-AP /kd
Date : 21 Feb 2014 04:50
AlphaBravo
Expert Member
Happens when promises made by government can't be kept. Sounds familiar?
Compton_effect
Honorary Master
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2006
- Messages
- 12,287
- Reaction score
- 1,102
Lets hope our guys are taking notes on what can happen.
And we should be taking notes on what to expect if the time comes.
And we should be taking notes on what to expect if the time comes.
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
The Game Changed in Venezuela Last Night – and the International Media Is Asleep At the Switch...
http://caracaschronicles.com/2014/02/20/the-game-changed/
http://caracaschronicles.com/2014/02/20/the-game-changed/
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Throngs of Venezuelans march despite Carnival holiday
Tens of thousands of Venezuelans skipped the traditional Carnival holiday that is a yearly highlight for many to instead march in nationwide protests against President Nicolas Maduro's government.
The demonstrations, part of a wave of nearly month-old protests that have left 18 people dead and more than 260 injured, were called in outrage at insecurity, government repression and shortages of basic goods.
"This is the people's struggle against the inefficient government. Maduro, you have lost today the streets of Venezuela because the streets belong to the people," Central University of Venezuela student leader Juan Requesens told nearly 20,000 people gathered in Caracas.
The students called for a "genuine dialogue" with the president and for discussion on ending the standoff marred by violence.
Several hours later, a group of radical protesters armed with sticks and stones gathered in the capital's Plaza Altamira and faced off with members of the National Guard who responded with water cannons, tear gas and birdshot.
Officials said the clash left 17 wounded from birdshot or suffering from gas inhalation.
On Sunday, authorities also released dozens of protesters and an Italian photographer, but that did nothing to appease the demonstrators.
Four marches converged in the afternoon at Plaza Brion in the wealthy Chacao district, with many protesters clad in white as they blew horns and whistles, and carrying Venezuelan flags.
Demonstrators poked fun at Maduro's decision to call a six-day holiday to mark the beginning of Carnival, an annual celebration that normally sees many Venezuelans leave the cities and head to the beach.
Critics say the holiday was a cynical attempt to undermine the demonstrations and many opposition mayors canceled ceremonies.
In a nod to fellow citizens making the traditional trip to the beach for Carnival festivities, protesters hoisted banners with messages like "I prefer a Carnival without a beach to life without freedom."
The latest wave of protests, which erupted on February 4, has grown into the biggest threat to Maduro and his leftist government since he succeeded socialist icon Hugo Chavez last year.
Elsewhere across the country, local media reported that thousands of protesters marched in the western city of San Cristobal, the cradle of the protest movement. Marches were also held in the cities of Barquisimeto, Valencia and Puerto Ordaz.
In San Cristobal, a university leader responded to Maduro's request that students participate in a national dialogue, already boycotted by the opposition.
"I challenge Mr Maduro, if you want dialogue, come to Tachira (state) and listen to the students," said Catholic University student leader Genesis Garcia, quoted by the Ultimas Noticias newspaper.
The anti-government protesters were even remembered thousands of miles away at the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
Jared Leto on Sunday paid tribute to the protesters, along with the people of crisis-hit Ukraine, as he won the best supporting actor Oscar for his work in "Dallas Buyers Club."
"To all of the dreamers out there around the world watching this tonight, in places like Ukraine and Venezuela, I want to say, we are here," Leto told the Academy Awards crowd as he clutched his golden statuette.
"And as you struggle to make your dreams happen, to live the impossible, we're thinking of you tonight."
Maduro, who denounces the demonstrations as part of a Washington-backed coup plot aimed at toppling his government, has been accused of targeting the domestic and foreign media, while hundreds of people -- including opposition leaders -- have been detained.
A total of 863 people have been arrested since February 9, according to rights group Foro Penal said, with 30 still behind bars.
Several foreign journalists, including an Italian photographer and an American reporter, were among those arrested on Friday.
Marco Ruiz, head of the SNTP press workers' union, said the arrests of foreign reporters were part of a deliberate government policy to intimidate the overseas press in the same way they had already done with local media.
"The pattern of attacks that is repeating itself is now against international correspondents," Ruiz said.
On Tuesday, Venezuela's Foreign Minister Elias Jaua will meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Geneva to discuss the protests.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mr
Date : 03 Mar 2014 05:04
Tens of thousands of Venezuelans skipped the traditional Carnival holiday that is a yearly highlight for many to instead march in nationwide protests against President Nicolas Maduro's government.
The demonstrations, part of a wave of nearly month-old protests that have left 18 people dead and more than 260 injured, were called in outrage at insecurity, government repression and shortages of basic goods.
"This is the people's struggle against the inefficient government. Maduro, you have lost today the streets of Venezuela because the streets belong to the people," Central University of Venezuela student leader Juan Requesens told nearly 20,000 people gathered in Caracas.
The students called for a "genuine dialogue" with the president and for discussion on ending the standoff marred by violence.
Several hours later, a group of radical protesters armed with sticks and stones gathered in the capital's Plaza Altamira and faced off with members of the National Guard who responded with water cannons, tear gas and birdshot.
Officials said the clash left 17 wounded from birdshot or suffering from gas inhalation.
On Sunday, authorities also released dozens of protesters and an Italian photographer, but that did nothing to appease the demonstrators.
Four marches converged in the afternoon at Plaza Brion in the wealthy Chacao district, with many protesters clad in white as they blew horns and whistles, and carrying Venezuelan flags.
Demonstrators poked fun at Maduro's decision to call a six-day holiday to mark the beginning of Carnival, an annual celebration that normally sees many Venezuelans leave the cities and head to the beach.
Critics say the holiday was a cynical attempt to undermine the demonstrations and many opposition mayors canceled ceremonies.
In a nod to fellow citizens making the traditional trip to the beach for Carnival festivities, protesters hoisted banners with messages like "I prefer a Carnival without a beach to life without freedom."
The latest wave of protests, which erupted on February 4, has grown into the biggest threat to Maduro and his leftist government since he succeeded socialist icon Hugo Chavez last year.
Elsewhere across the country, local media reported that thousands of protesters marched in the western city of San Cristobal, the cradle of the protest movement. Marches were also held in the cities of Barquisimeto, Valencia and Puerto Ordaz.
In San Cristobal, a university leader responded to Maduro's request that students participate in a national dialogue, already boycotted by the opposition.
"I challenge Mr Maduro, if you want dialogue, come to Tachira (state) and listen to the students," said Catholic University student leader Genesis Garcia, quoted by the Ultimas Noticias newspaper.
The anti-government protesters were even remembered thousands of miles away at the Academy Awards ceremony in Los Angeles.
Jared Leto on Sunday paid tribute to the protesters, along with the people of crisis-hit Ukraine, as he won the best supporting actor Oscar for his work in "Dallas Buyers Club."
"To all of the dreamers out there around the world watching this tonight, in places like Ukraine and Venezuela, I want to say, we are here," Leto told the Academy Awards crowd as he clutched his golden statuette.
"And as you struggle to make your dreams happen, to live the impossible, we're thinking of you tonight."
Maduro, who denounces the demonstrations as part of a Washington-backed coup plot aimed at toppling his government, has been accused of targeting the domestic and foreign media, while hundreds of people -- including opposition leaders -- have been detained.
A total of 863 people have been arrested since February 9, according to rights group Foro Penal said, with 30 still behind bars.
Several foreign journalists, including an Italian photographer and an American reporter, were among those arrested on Friday.
Marco Ruiz, head of the SNTP press workers' union, said the arrests of foreign reporters were part of a deliberate government policy to intimidate the overseas press in the same way they had already done with local media.
"The pattern of attacks that is repeating itself is now against international correspondents," Ruiz said.
On Tuesday, Venezuela's Foreign Minister Elias Jaua will meet with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in Geneva to discuss the protests.
Source : Sapa-AFP /mr
Date : 03 Mar 2014 05:04
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
Venezuela's hardcore protestors learn from other demos
Venezuelan protesters ripped a dead tree from a vacant lot and dragged it down the street to rebuild a barricade in a Caracas neighborhood that has become an epicenter of unrest.
Others in masks grabbed shields made out of aluminum siding or television satellite dishes, ready for another night of throwing rocks and firebombs at riot police who lob tear gas or fire buckshot.
After three weeks of clashes, hardcore anti-government protesters say they honed their skills through battle experience, lessons from comrades in another opposition bastion and by watching Internet videos of clashes in places like Ukraine and Egypt.
This battle-hardened group, which has numbered in the hundreds on some nights, has ignored calls by opposition leaders to keep protests against President Nicolas Maduro peaceful.
They use giant slingshots to fling rocks. They try to burst motorcycle tires by throwing "miguelitos" -- rubber hoses spiked with nails.
They blast paint at the windows of water-cannon trucks. Masks made out of plastic bottles are stuffed with a rag dipped in vinegar to counter the effects of tear gas.
"We have everything except guns," said Adam, a 24-year-old university student who refused to give his last name as he held a thick, black log with a handle made out of an empty gas canister.
With a cigarette dangling from his lips, he rested the contraption on his shoulder like a bazooka.
"When the police get close, you grab it like this and swing it," he said. "We learned how to make shields by looking at other protests" online.
They were at it again on Monday, tossing Molotov cocktails, throwing loud homemade explosives and using the giant slingshot against police who responded with tear gas.
Trash was set ablaze under an effigy of Maduro that hung from a traffic light.
Nobody was hurt this time, but the government says 18 people have been killed and some 260 injured since protests erupted in early February.
These protesters say this is the only way to change a government they blame for a soaring crime rate, 56 percent inflation and chronic food shortages. Lately, they also accuse the government of violently repressing the demonstrations.
They have set up camp in Plaza Altamira, a longtime spot for opposition protests in the capital's middle-class Chacao district, refusing to rest despite an extended Carnival holiday week that ends with Mardi Gras on Tuesday.
The protesters say they have learned much from their comrades in the western city of San Cristobal, where the movement began on February 4 in a protest against crime after a female student was sexually assaulted.
Maduro charges that the protests are a US-backed plot by "fascists" to overthrow his socialist government, just under a year since he was elected to succeed the late Hugo Chavez.
More than 1,000 people have been detained but most have since been released.
The opposition has called for new protests in Caracas on Tuesday and Saturday, while the government prepares to commemorate the anniversary of Chavez's death on Wednesday.
In contrast, poorer neighborhoods of Caracas that are bastions of Chavez loyalists have remained quiet.
The protesters in Altamira say they are now better organized.
The front line is comprised of dozens of the most daring who line up shoulder to shoulder with shields while the back line brings them the rocks or Molotov cocktails.
First aid kits, water and food are kept at the Altamira square.
"With experience, people lose fear," said Valentina Huamani, an 18-year-old university communications student who is among those at the front line.
"When others see me, a woman, down there, then they join us," she said, wearing a jacket in the color of military fatigues.
Before the latest clash, the protesters had gathered in a festive atmosphere, with cars honking in support while a young man showed up dressed like Maduro with a fake moustache.
"The ideas is for more people to join us," said Jonathan Hinds, a 32-year-old who had to close his travel company. "We aren't bourgeois, we aren't oligarchs, we aren't fascists."
Source : Sapa-AFP /mjs
Date : 04 Mar 2014 05:12
Venezuelan protesters ripped a dead tree from a vacant lot and dragged it down the street to rebuild a barricade in a Caracas neighborhood that has become an epicenter of unrest.
Others in masks grabbed shields made out of aluminum siding or television satellite dishes, ready for another night of throwing rocks and firebombs at riot police who lob tear gas or fire buckshot.
After three weeks of clashes, hardcore anti-government protesters say they honed their skills through battle experience, lessons from comrades in another opposition bastion and by watching Internet videos of clashes in places like Ukraine and Egypt.
This battle-hardened group, which has numbered in the hundreds on some nights, has ignored calls by opposition leaders to keep protests against President Nicolas Maduro peaceful.
They use giant slingshots to fling rocks. They try to burst motorcycle tires by throwing "miguelitos" -- rubber hoses spiked with nails.
They blast paint at the windows of water-cannon trucks. Masks made out of plastic bottles are stuffed with a rag dipped in vinegar to counter the effects of tear gas.
"We have everything except guns," said Adam, a 24-year-old university student who refused to give his last name as he held a thick, black log with a handle made out of an empty gas canister.
With a cigarette dangling from his lips, he rested the contraption on his shoulder like a bazooka.
"When the police get close, you grab it like this and swing it," he said. "We learned how to make shields by looking at other protests" online.
They were at it again on Monday, tossing Molotov cocktails, throwing loud homemade explosives and using the giant slingshot against police who responded with tear gas.
Trash was set ablaze under an effigy of Maduro that hung from a traffic light.
Nobody was hurt this time, but the government says 18 people have been killed and some 260 injured since protests erupted in early February.
These protesters say this is the only way to change a government they blame for a soaring crime rate, 56 percent inflation and chronic food shortages. Lately, they also accuse the government of violently repressing the demonstrations.
They have set up camp in Plaza Altamira, a longtime spot for opposition protests in the capital's middle-class Chacao district, refusing to rest despite an extended Carnival holiday week that ends with Mardi Gras on Tuesday.
The protesters say they have learned much from their comrades in the western city of San Cristobal, where the movement began on February 4 in a protest against crime after a female student was sexually assaulted.
Maduro charges that the protests are a US-backed plot by "fascists" to overthrow his socialist government, just under a year since he was elected to succeed the late Hugo Chavez.
More than 1,000 people have been detained but most have since been released.
The opposition has called for new protests in Caracas on Tuesday and Saturday, while the government prepares to commemorate the anniversary of Chavez's death on Wednesday.
In contrast, poorer neighborhoods of Caracas that are bastions of Chavez loyalists have remained quiet.
The protesters in Altamira say they are now better organized.
The front line is comprised of dozens of the most daring who line up shoulder to shoulder with shields while the back line brings them the rocks or Molotov cocktails.
First aid kits, water and food are kept at the Altamira square.
"With experience, people lose fear," said Valentina Huamani, an 18-year-old university communications student who is among those at the front line.
"When others see me, a woman, down there, then they join us," she said, wearing a jacket in the color of military fatigues.
Before the latest clash, the protesters had gathered in a festive atmosphere, with cars honking in support while a young man showed up dressed like Maduro with a fake moustache.
"The ideas is for more people to join us," said Jonathan Hinds, a 32-year-old who had to close his travel company. "We aren't bourgeois, we aren't oligarchs, we aren't fascists."
Source : Sapa-AFP /mjs
Date : 04 Mar 2014 05:12
LazyLion
King of de Jungle
VENEZUELAN STUDENTS CLASH WITH POLICE IN NEW PROTEST
Police fired tear gas and water cannon Wednesday to push back scores of rock-hurling students in the capital Caracas, with protests also taking place in at least three other major Venezuelan cities.
About 3,000 students marched in Caracas to mark a month since the first deaths in weeks of anti-government demonstrations that have now killed 22 people. There were similar opposition protests in the cities of San Cristobal, Merida and Valencia.
The demonstrations have been fueled by public discontent over deteriorating living conditions in the oil-rich South American country, where violent crime, shortages and inflation have combined to create the most serious challenge yet for leftist President Nicolas Maduro.
The Caracas march had not been approved by authorities, with Maduro saying the demonstrators were simply looking for trouble.
But the students turned out anyway, chanting slogans and demanding the release of protesters detained in earlier demonstrations.
The students, just outside the gates of the Central University of Venezuela, squared off against about 300 national police officers who blocked their access to the landmark Plaza Espana square.
Their march crossed the campus, and was trying to head all the way to the government ombudsman's offices.
Hilda Ruiz, a student leader from Central University, told AFP the marchers also wanted authorities to respond to allegations of police torture and to punish those responsible for the deaths of demonstrators.
When police lobbed tear gas, marchers largely scattered from the gas cloud. Some threw rocks in retaliation.
Maduro supporters, dressed in "Chavista" red, meanwhile rallied for "peace and life."
The anti-government protests first erupted on February 4 in the western city of San Cristobal, reaching Caracas on February 12 when three people were killed after an opposition protest ended in clashes with security forces.
South American foreign ministers are meeting in Santiago, Chile on the Venezuelan crisis.
"I want to reiterate the Chilean government's wish to support and stand by the Venezuelan people and the government," the country's newly inaugurated President Michelle Bachelet said, pointing out that the "government... was democratically elected."
Wishing Venezuelans "peace" in which to settle their differences, Bachelet, 62, stressed: "We will never support any movement that violently seeks to oust a constitutionally elected government."
Source : Sapa-AFP /ns
Date : 13 Mar 2014 00:08
Police fired tear gas and water cannon Wednesday to push back scores of rock-hurling students in the capital Caracas, with protests also taking place in at least three other major Venezuelan cities.
About 3,000 students marched in Caracas to mark a month since the first deaths in weeks of anti-government demonstrations that have now killed 22 people. There were similar opposition protests in the cities of San Cristobal, Merida and Valencia.
The demonstrations have been fueled by public discontent over deteriorating living conditions in the oil-rich South American country, where violent crime, shortages and inflation have combined to create the most serious challenge yet for leftist President Nicolas Maduro.
The Caracas march had not been approved by authorities, with Maduro saying the demonstrators were simply looking for trouble.
But the students turned out anyway, chanting slogans and demanding the release of protesters detained in earlier demonstrations.
The students, just outside the gates of the Central University of Venezuela, squared off against about 300 national police officers who blocked their access to the landmark Plaza Espana square.
Their march crossed the campus, and was trying to head all the way to the government ombudsman's offices.
Hilda Ruiz, a student leader from Central University, told AFP the marchers also wanted authorities to respond to allegations of police torture and to punish those responsible for the deaths of demonstrators.
When police lobbed tear gas, marchers largely scattered from the gas cloud. Some threw rocks in retaliation.
Maduro supporters, dressed in "Chavista" red, meanwhile rallied for "peace and life."
The anti-government protests first erupted on February 4 in the western city of San Cristobal, reaching Caracas on February 12 when three people were killed after an opposition protest ended in clashes with security forces.
South American foreign ministers are meeting in Santiago, Chile on the Venezuelan crisis.
"I want to reiterate the Chilean government's wish to support and stand by the Venezuelan people and the government," the country's newly inaugurated President Michelle Bachelet said, pointing out that the "government... was democratically elected."
Wishing Venezuelans "peace" in which to settle their differences, Bachelet, 62, stressed: "We will never support any movement that violently seeks to oust a constitutionally elected government."
Source : Sapa-AFP /ns
Date : 13 Mar 2014 00:08