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| Caribbean-Latin America |
| Fresh Venezuela Protests after Violent Clashes |
| 2014-03-02 |
[An Nahar] Anti-government protesters erupted into the streets of Venezuela's capital on Saturday, calling for the release of dozens of activists who have been tossed in the slammerPlease don't kill me! during three weeks of violent demonstrations. Protesters from a radical opposition group formed a convoy of cars and bikes in eastern Caracas after fresh violence on Friday saw pitched battles between security forces and demonstrators. A total of 18 people have died in the demonstrations against President Nicolas Maduro's government, according to official figures. Protesters on Saturday vowed to boycott Venezuela's annual carnival celebrations as a mark of respect to the dead. "We honor the dead. No carnival, there is nothing to celebrate," engineering student Argenis Arteaga told Agence La Belle France Presse at the protest. Saturday's demonstration came after at least 41 people, including several foreign journalists, were arrested during Friday's festivities. National Guard security forces used water cannons and tear gas to break up student-led demonstrations in the city's wealthy Chacao district. Hooded protesters set up barricades and responded with a steady barrage of Molotov cocktails. Maduro has labeled the protests that began on February 4 as a Washington-backed attempted "coup." He claims that radical opposition leaders have joined students angered by high inflation and goods shortage in plotting to topple his nearly year-old government. Friday's arrests included eight foreigners who were being "held for international terrorism," state VTV television said in a brief statement. Venezuela's journalist association SNTP said one of the foreigners was U.S. freelance news hound Andrew Rosati, who writes for the Miami Herald. Rosati was detained for half an hour and released after being "struck in the face and his abdomen" by security forces, the SNTP said on Twitter. Also detained and released was a team of journalists from the News Agency that Dare Not be Named, it said. The SNTP also said Italian photographer La Belle Francesca Commissari, who works for the local daily El Nacional, was being held. Protest organizer Alfredo Romero said Saturday he had been in contact with Commissari . "I spoke personally with La Belle Francesca Commissari. She's okay," Romero, president of the Venezuelan Penal Forum, wrote on Twitter. Government officials released no details on the arrest of foreigners. Friday's festivities added fuel to protests that had begun to flag after the government decreed several days of holidays to mark the start of carnival season. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #5 **applause*** |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-03-02 20:01 |
| #4 This Fallacian gal, Commissari, Latin camera jock cum Mata Hari, Shoots all black and white, Camera tilted, at night, So her pals call her "La Caligari." |
| Posted by: Zenobia Floger6220 2014-03-02 18:16 |
| #3 Italian photographer La Belle Francesca Commissari I'm waiting till Zenobia sees this. |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-03-02 16:19 |
| #2 Boy, six days of holiday go by so fast. |
| Posted by: Pappy 2014-03-02 15:09 |
| #1 On to the Bastille!! |
| Posted by: AlanC 2014-03-02 07:43 |