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Caribbean-Latin America
Protests Against Venezuela's Government Escalate
2014-02-22
CARACAS, Venezuela—Protests against President Nicolás Maduro's government escalated Thursday, with thousands of demonstrators burning tires and cars and security forces fighting back to gain control of the streets in the capital and in other cities.

At least five people, four protesting the government, have died since protests by university students over high crime and a crumbling economy turned violent last week. Dozens of others have been injured or jailed, including opposition leader Leopoldo López, a former mayor whom the government has accused of instigating the violence.

Leonardo Velasco, 25 years old, said dozens of national guardsmen and other armed supporters of the government swept down on demonstrators in a protest in which he participated on Thursday. "I heard a bunch of shots and hit the ground." Mr. Velasco said he and other demonstrators fought back with Molotov cocktails, as tear gas spread and people ran in different directions. "I was half blind, stumbling and running," he said.

One protester in Caracas was shot by what appeared to be members of the National Guard, according to a video posted on several Venezuelan media sites. The incident couldn't be independently verified. The protester remained in critical condition on Friday, according to El Nacional newspaper.

Other videos online showed dozens of armed men on motorcycles entering areas held by protesters during the night, amid sounds of gunfire and fireworks.

"The government came out to kill people, to try to shut up people with lead," Henrique Capriles, a leading opposition figure, said in a news conference on Thursday. Calls seeking comment over the past week to government officials haven't been returned.

The chaotic scenes across the country represent the biggest challenge faced so far by President Nick the Mad Maduro since he took over from the late Hugo Chávez last year. Mr. Maduro accused what he called "fascist leaders" financed by the U.S. of using highly trained teams to topple his socialist government from power. In a lengthy speech televised Wednesday night, he charged that the demonstrators were trying "to fill the country with violence and to create a spiral of hatred among our people."
His hard boyz seem to be doing a pretty good job of that all by themselves...
He said his foes were hoping to generate chaos to justify a foreign military intervention. "In Venezuela, they're applying the format of a coup d'état," he said.
Which foreign power? The US? He's certainly kidding. Obama would only invade if he thought the Tea Party had taken over in Caracas...
In a speech Thursday, Mr. Maduro also accused U.S. cable channel CNN of producing skewed coverage of the protests and said he had begun an administrative process to kick the channel off the air in Venezuela unless it moved to "rectify" its coverage.
You gotta do it slower, Nick -- see how the FCC does it...
"They want to show the world that in Venezuela there is a civil war," Mr. Maduro said. "In Venezuela the people are working, studying, building the Fatherland."

A CNN spokeswoman declined to comment.
They are, however, planning to handle Nick the same way they handled Saddam...
Protests have spread beyond the capital to far-flung states over the past couple of days, in the Andean city of Mérida and in the state of Táchira bordering Colombia to the west, where power and Internet went out, local media reported.

In Táchira, the government's Russian-built Sukhoi fighters screamed overhead, local reports said. In Valencia, west of Caracas, another protest was mounted but was quelled by soldiers using water cannon.

Interior and Justice Minister Miguel Rodríguez Torres said in a televised address on Thursday that a battalion of paratroopers has been deployed around San Cristóbal, the capital of Táchira. He said they would secure highways and prevent Colombians, who are often blamed of fomenting trouble here, from bringing in weapons for the student demonstrators. Possession of guns was banned in the state.
Just another warning for us gun-owning Americans...
"They can't say the government is shooting people," said Mr. Rodríguez, who blamed antigovernment officials in San Cristóbal of triggering the violence.

In Caracas, meanwhile, the president also leveled responsibility on Mr. López, an opposition leader who surrendered to authorities on Tuesday after being accused of instigating violence on Feb. 12, when three people died in two demonstrations. He warned that other opposition leaders could follow him into prison.

"One of them is in jail," Mr. Maduro said of Mr. López, adding: "The others will, one by one, end up in the same jail cell."

Shortly after midnight, Mr. López was arraigned in the military jail outside of Caracas where he is being held on charges of setting fire to a building, instigating crimes and conspiracy to commit a crime, according to the newspaper El Universal. If convicted, Mr. López could still face 10 years in jail.

More serious accusations of homicide and terrorism leveled at him by government officials weren't filed, one of Mr. López's lawyers, Juan Carlos Gutierrez, told Union Radio.

Opposition leaders and witnesses, have said uniformed state security agents, as well as pro-government motorcycle gangs known as colectivos have cracked down violently on unarmed demonstrators.
Posted by:Steve White

#1  Meanwhile, their neighbor, Columbia is still dealing with Caracas sponsored FARC terrorism and crime. Now would be time for some payback if there ever was. If nothing else to force Maduro to put a sizable chunk of his military on the border and away from the capital.
Posted by: Procopius2k   2014-02-22 08:30  

00:01