Major rival protests staged in Venezuela | ||
Police and anti-government protesters confront each in the capital Caracas.
Last updated: 23 Feb 2014 07:12
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| Caracas - Venezuelans have held a new wave of demonstrations as both supporters of the government and opposition staged major rallies in a country that has been roiled by violence in recent days. Pro-government "Chavista women" held a march "against fascism" on Saturday in Caracas, while the opposition staged a rally for "peace". At a pro-government rally in the capital, where an Al Jazeera correspondent estimated thousands in attendance, Caridad Blanco, a retired person, told Al Jazeera: "The opposition is causing the violence. I am afraid to go to Chacao [a pro-opposition area]. We are rallying here for peace and our homeland." "My life had improved greatly. In 1999, there were 300,000 pensioners. Now there are three million. "My mother worked as an ironing lady. She had no pension before but now she does. This is an example of what our government has done," she added. Daisy Perez, a cleaning lady and government supporter, told Al Jazeera: "We have created more employment [during the socialist period], schools and universities have been built." 'Social crisis' An hour into the opposition rally, thousands of demonstrators had gathered, our correspondent estimated, but thousands more were seen heading towards the rally on foot and via the subway. "At some point, the government will have to sit down and have proper discussions with the opposition," Alexis Perez, a student from Simon Bolivar University at the opposition rally, told Al Jazeera. "We are facing a social crisis."
"They are trying to prove they have public support in what has become a drawn-out battle. "I don't imagine there will be serious violence today in Caracas because the rallies are happening in opposite zones of the city." Henrique Capriles, governor of Miranda state and a main opposition leader, says that planned events are intended as peaceful protests to show public discontent over high crime, food shortages and other problems facing Venezuela. Capriles has called on marchers to focus on demanding that authorities disarm pro-government "collectives" blamed for attacking demonstrators. At least eight people have died and more than 100 have been injured in violence connected to the protests that initially began peacefully. President Nicolas Maduro's government warned it could cut off gas supplies to restless areas. Protests began on February 2 in the western city of San Cristobal led by students angry over the soaring crime rate. Social media campaigns helped unrest spread to Caracas and other major cities, intensifying over the past two week. Maduro, who denies any links to the armed groups, says the protests are part of a "coup d'etat in development" instigated by Washington and conservative ex-Colombian president Alvaro Uribe. Call for dialogue US President Barack Obama earlier urged the Venezuelan government to address the "legitimate grievances" of protesters; remarks which Maduro said were interference in Venezuela's internal affairs. Maduro challenged Obama on Friday to meet him for talks. "I call a dialogue with you, President Obama... between the patriotic and revolutionary Venezuela and the United States and its government," he said. "Accept the challenge and we will start a high-level dialogue and put the truth on the table," Maduro told a news conference with foreign reporters. Caracas and Washington have not exchanged ambassadors since their respective envoys were withdrawn in 2010. Venezuela has expelled eight US diplomats over the past year, including three on February 16. Oil-rich Venezuela's main customer for its key export is the US, yet strained relations between the countries have worsened under Maduro. Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves, but under Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez, the economy has faltered, violent crime has increased and inflation is some of the highest in the region. Supporters of the elected government say their situation has improved because of subsidised food programmes, new universities, and health centres built by the state in long-neglected poor areas. | ||
Venezuela protests: demonstrators tell us why they're taking part
We asked protesters in Venezuela why they have taken part in the anti-government demonstrations. Here is a selection of their views
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Scenes of political turmoil have swept across Venezuela as citizens protest against unemployment, a rise in violent crime and surging inflation.
Demonstrators have also been protesting against the detention of opposition leader Leopoldo López, who surrendered to authorities on Wednesday after making a speech to thousands of supporters.
The government has claimed the protests and clashes are the early stages of a US-backed attempted coup. Recent weeks have also seen pro-government rallies and protests in support of the President, Nicolás Maduro.
Guardian readers below share their reasons for supporting and taking part in the protests. Live in Venezuela? Whether you support the protests or are part of the pro-government rallies, share your views in the comments thread below, or via GuardianWitness.
“It would be easier to ask why we would not protest”
Venezuelans have a million reasons to protest. We have one of the highest murder rates in the world – two people per hour – rampant inflation at a rate of 60% a year, basic products like milk, oil, sugar, chicken are not available in supermarkets, if we want to travel we have to go through a bureaucratic nightmare to be able to buy foreign currency limited to less than £2000 a year, we have no liberty of expression if we do not concur with the governments ideas we are completely ignored. We are protesting for our lives and our dignity.
“Scarcity of everyday goods is raising, corruption is rampant...”
Official numbers put 2013 inflation rate at around 56% and murder casualties at more than 24000, two numbers that have only increased during 15 years. Scarcity of everyday goods is raising, corruption is rampant... but instead of listening to the protests who very accurately point at the government, what we have gotten is repressive use of the public force AND armed civil gangs which has resulted in at least 6 deaths, hundreds of injured and dozens of students in jail. All of this has been silenced from national media because of heavy censorship.We’re sick of hearing this sorry excuse for a president to blame “the Empire” and the “far-right” as culprits of his own mess.
“The reality is it is becoming a failed state”
I have lived in Venezuela for 19 years and seen many opposition and government marches. Violence is actually not that common but escalates when the opposition grows. The present reason for demonstrations is caused by the mismanagement of the oil revenue which is quite considerable along with corruption and has been going on for years.
There are many shortages and rationing... you cannot find margarine, sugar, P.A.N arena (maize), flour, toilet paper, washing up liquid, bleach, and milk and bread are rationed from shop owners. Cement, car parts, foreign goods too. It is almost impossible to buy an international air ticket as airlines have not been allowed to change the soft Bolivar for hard currency so they don’t sell tickets in Venezuela but you can buy the same flights in dollars at the arrival location.
Jobs are few and a reasonable salary is about £50/month... people are a lot worse off due to inflation and devaluation. Crime and the murder rate are one of the highest in the world.
Jobs are few and a reasonable salary is about £50/month... people are a lot worse off due to inflation and devaluation. Crime and the murder rate are one of the highest in the world.
Venezuelan people, all of them want and deserve better. Everyone is complaining, including government tied voters.
Finally Venezuela politics does not fit “left or right wing”. Venezuela severely lacks both capitalism (business) and socialism (social benefits) and the reality is it is becoming a failed state.
Finally Venezuela politics does not fit “left or right wing”. Venezuela severely lacks both capitalism (business) and socialism (social benefits) and the reality is it is becoming a failed state.
“This is about power and dictatorship”
After Hugo Chavez was elected president, we started a journey of lies, manipulations and abuse of power. The last presidential elections in Venezuela was full of illegalities and, with it, we have lived a year of severe inflation, food and medicine shortages, impunity, negligence, high rates of murders and much more. The reaction of the government has been always to pretend that nothing is going on or to blame opposition of everything, but we just got fed up with being abused and threatened.
I have been robbed twice, I cannot find basic products in the supermarkets such as milk, toilet paper and chicken, I have to ask my friends to buy my medicine (for hypothyroidism) abroad, if I take public transportation I could be robbed by young thieves asking for money (forcing you to give them a “contribution” or suffer the consequences), I can buy red meat one week, let’s say at 5 GB pounds, and the next week I have to pay 8 GB pounds, and so on. Students have been stolen, threatened and even raped within the universities and that is why they decided to massively protest against the situation. During the protest, Venezuelan “special” forces shoot against them and killed and hurt students while they were running for their lives. The reaction of the government was to blame opposition for promoting violence against them. They never assume the responsibility about nothing.
Friday, February 21, 2014 2:40 PM
Caracas Chronicles: Riots in Venezuela Continue 19th Day; Best Wishes but a Sober Assessment
Ukraine has been in the spotlight by every major news organization. Meanwhile, Venezuela simmered in riots for 19 days.
Where are the stories?
That's what Francisco Toro at Caracas Chronicles wondered yesterday in his report The Game Changed in Venezuela Last Night – and the International Media Is Asleep At the Switch
Where are the stories?
That's what Francisco Toro at Caracas Chronicles wondered yesterday in his report The Game Changed in Venezuela Last Night – and the International Media Is Asleep At the Switch
Listen and understand. The game changed in Venezuela last night. What had been a slow-motion unravelling that had stretched out over many years went kinetic all of a sudden.Media, Paramilitaries, Abuses, and Some Blood
What we have this morning is no longer the Venezuela story you thought you understood.
Throughout last night, panicked people told their stories of state-sponsored paramilitaries on motorcycles roaming middle class neighborhoods, shooting at people and storming into apartment buildings, shooting at anyone who seemed like he might be protesting.
People continue to be arrested merely for protesting, and a long established local Human Rights NGO makes an urgent plea for an investigation into widespread reports of torture of detainees. There are now dozens of serious human right abuses: National Guardsmen shooting tear gas canisters directly into residential buildings. We have videos of soldiers shooting civilians on the street.
And that’s just what came out in real time, over Twitter and YouTube, before any real investigation is carried out. Online media is next, a city of 645,000 inhabitants has been taken off the internet amid mounting repression, and this blog itself has been the object of a Facebook “block” campaign.
What we saw were not “street clashes”, what we saw is a state-hatched offensive to suppress and terrorize its opponents.
Here at Caracas Chronicles we’re doing what it can to document the crisis, but there’s only so much one tiny, zero-budget blog can do.
After the major crackdown on the streets of large (and small) Venezuelan cities last night, I expected some kind of response in the major international news outlets this morning. I understand that with an even bigger and more photogenic freakout ongoing in an even more strategically important country, we weren’t going to be front-page-above-the-fold, but I’m staggered this morning to wake up, scan the press and find…
Nothing.
As of 11 a.m. this morning, the New York Times World Section has nothing.
Today, writer Juan Cristobal Nagel writes about Media, Paramilitaries, Abuses, and Some Blood
The storiesNews Suppression
- The Media Blackout - From yanking a Colombian cable news channel off the air to taking an entire city offline, the government has made controlling the flow of information about the crisis a priority. This comes on the heels of the looming threat to newspapers all over the country, which we have documented extensively. President Maduro has already announced they will pull the plug on CNN En Español, an important source of independent information. Now their journos’ official credentials have been revoked. All told, the past two weeks have been dreadful for the right of Venezuelans to be informed. The result? Tons of rumors, tons of disinformation, tons of uncertainty.
- Paramilitaries: Let’s call a spade a spade: colectivos are paramilitaries. It’s silly that chavistas are somehow trying to minimize the role of these government-sponsored groups that now roam freely in the streets of Venezuela, heavily armed, accountable to God-only-knows whom. They have been repeatedly lionized by the government. They are christened by Ministers as the main line of defense of the Revolution. They talk to the foreign press and gleefully display their weapons and their fire power. Chavista governors give them orders via Twitter. And numerous eyewitnesses tell stories of violence. True – they don’t always shoot live ammo. Sometimes their role is simply to intimidate. Regardless, they are real, and they are not going anywhere.
- Human Rights Abuses - From the jailing of Leopoldo López to the alleged torture of student demonstrators, it seems clear that Venezuela crossed a rubicon in the past few days. This has been a PR disaster for the government, with everyone from Amnesty International to Human Rights Watch to (gulp) Madonna weighing in. I don’t know if they care or not, but Maduro’s cast in international public opinion seems set for now. He is an abusive, mustachoed thug. Any lingering claim to the moral high-ground or to hemispheric leadership that the revolution may once have held on to died this month.
Maduro threatens to expel CNN but suppression of the news does not change the facts. Those in Venezuela are well aware of the horrific situation, thanks in part to sites like Caracas Chronicles.
Mission Impossible to Stop Capital Flight
On January 23, in Venezuela Strengthens Currency Controls in Impossible Mission to Stop Capital Flight; Airlines Collapse; End of the Line I commented ...
Hyperinflation, and economic stupidity by the leftist government are both out of control. On the currency side, the official exchange rate is 6.3 Bolivars to the dollar. The exchange rate for foreign travelers was just set to 11.36 Bolivars per dollar. The black market exchange rate is 79 Bolivars per dollar.Plunging Oil Revenues
The end of the line for the Bolivar is at hand. The leftist government nationalized oil reserves, and the result was an immediate collapse in production. The only way Venezuela can import anything is from dwindling US dollar reserves. When those run out, it's lights out for the Bolivar.
Ridiculous Idea
Hyperinflationists believe the same thing is going to happen in the US. The idea is ridiculous. For more on the story, please see Venezuela’s Hyperinflation Anatomy; Army Storms Caracas Electronics Stores; Total Economic Collapse Underway; Could This Happen in US?
Two days ago professor Steve Hanke offered his stark view regarding Venezuela’s Plunging Petroleum Production
A hallmark of socialism and interventionism is failure. Venezuela is compelling proof of this, having spent the past half century going down the tubes. Indeed, in the 1950’s, it was one of Latin America’s most well off countries. No more. Now it is a basket case – a failed state that’s descending into chaos.The above chart may not look so ominous. The next chart will.
How could this be? After all, Venezuela’s combined reserves of oil and gas are second only to Iran’s. Well, it might have reserves, but thanks to the wrongheaded policies of President Hugo Chavez, Venezuela is the only major energy producer that has seen its production fall over the past quarter of a century. The following chart tells that dismal tale:
Venezuela Foreign Reserves
Given complete mistrust of president Nicolás Maduro, and nationalization of the oil industry, Venezuela's massive energy reserves are not worth much.
Current production does matter to the extent Venezuela can keep paying its bills. At the current pace, those reserves will last another two years.
Best Wishes but a Sober Assessment
Best wishes and a tip of the hat to writers Francisco Toro and Juan Cristobal Nagel for the two lead stories in this post. Those interested in Venezuela may wish to bookmark Caracas Chronicles.
Unfortunately, my sad assessment is things are likely to get a lot worse, eventually culminating in complete or near-complete loss of value of Venezuela's currency, the bolivar. Meanwhile, ridiculous exchange rates ensure a constant shortage of consumer goods and food.
Mike "Mish" Shedlock
Venezuelan troops reportedly turning areas into 'free-fire' zones
Paratroopers will head to a border area to crack down on clashes between police and anti-government protesters
- Topics:
- Venezuela
- Americas
- Nicolas Maduro
As protesters clashed once again with Venezuelan security forces in the “war zone” of western Tachira province, tensions were high Friday in Valencia, the Venezuelan city where a funeral was scheduled for a local beauty queen killed by a bullet this week while participating in a protest.
The death of Genesis Carmona, a 22-year-old university student who was Miss Tourism 2013 for Venezuela’s Carabobo state, reverberated in this country, which prizes beauty contests.
Her death came amid escalating violence across Venezuela since a Feb. 12 opposition rally that was followed by clashes between young activists and the National Guard in which three people died. At least three more deaths and dozens of injuries have occurred in protest violence since then.
The funeral will come after troops began heading to Tachira state, a border area torn by fierce clashes between police and anti-government protesters, while security forces are being accused of turning many parts of the country into free-fire zones in their bid to silence a rejuvenated movement challenging socialist rule.
President Nicolas Maduro’s opponents charged Thursday that he had unleashed the military, police and civilian militias against those who blame the administration for hardships in a country that is rich in oil but struggling with overheated inflation and one of the world’s worst homicide rates.
Leopoldo Lopez, the jailed opposition leader who organized the mass rally, was ordered early Thursday to remain in detention to face charges that include arson and criminal incitement.
"I'm fine, I ask you not to give up, I won't," Lopez said to his followers in a handwritten note passed to his wife at Caracas' Ramo Verde prison, which was then posted on the Internet.
The unrest has been particularly high in Tachira, on Venezuela’s western border with Colombia, where anti-government protesters have clashed with police and national guard units, disrupting life in its capital, San Cristobal, which residents are describing as a “war zone.”
Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres announced Thursday that a battalion of troops was being sent to Tachira to help bring calm.
“These units will enable the city to function so food can get in, so people can go about their normal lives. It’s simply meant to restore order,” he said.
San Cristobal Vice Mayor Sergio Vergara, a member of the opposition, disputed that. He said that the government caused the troubles by cracking down on what had been peaceful protests and that as part of its campaign had cut off vital services in the city, including public transportation and the Internet.
Sending 3,000 troops to a city of 600,000 people is “effectively part of an effort at repression being played out by the government across the country,” Vergara said.
Internet connectivity was gradually restored to San Cristobal on Friday morning after an outage of more than 30 hours that also affected smartphones.
Activists say the government has obstructed Internet access around the country over the past few weeks.
U.S.-based company Renesys, a top analyzer of global Internet traffic, confirmed that Venezuela was experiencing website blocking and service degradation across the country, but said it could not determine if CANTV, which handles about 90 percent of the country’s traffic, was intentionally decreasing bandwidth.
"I certainly don't know from our data if it is deliberate, although given the context, it seems plausible," Renesys researcher Doug Madory told The Associated Press.
National guard troops and members of pro-government militias have also swarmed the streets of Caracas and other cities firing weapons, at times indiscriminately, in repeated spasms of nighttime violence in recent days.
Henrique Capriles, a two-time presidential candidate of an opposition coalition, said the government is engaging in “brutal repression,” in some cases breaking into apartment buildings to arrest people authorities accuse of being part of a coup plot against Maduro.
“What does the government want, a civil war?” Capriles asked at a news conference.
While several large demonstrations by thousands of people have been peaceful, smaller groups of protesters have lobbed firebombs 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 from motorcycles.
The clashes with authorities as well as the pursuit of anti-government activists by troops and militias take place in darkness. During the day, Caracas 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.
Al Jazeera and The Associated Press
Good morning, FYI, I was unable to back up past the Walmart/SNAP article to leave or see previous comments. Both IE and Firefox have the problem.
ReplyDeleteBut that was yesterday so on with today. $8 Million dollar bonus to someone who has told you they are leaving to work for the government, man that's showing them the money, didn't know BOA was so generous. Really, they don't make much effort at hiding corruption anymore. At least it won't be long before we can get out of a speeding ticket by forking over a few hundred dollars on the side of the highway, think of the time that will save.
Everything reminds me of the first Godfather movie, when one of the characters says that the mafia is basically a small government and the government is basically a large mafia. Something like that, anyway very true especially now though probably was just as corrupt when I was a brainwashed kid, but at least they made an effort at hiding the corruption and pretending otherwise.
PM's still seem to be holding up though I have probably jinxed them now and someone will come along and sell the equivalent of a decade's gold production in one trade at 3:30am Monday morning. No manipulation going on there.
Have a great day
Morning Kev - for whatever reason , lots of balky internet service issues this week...... seems better this morning !
DeleteThe way our corrupt society works is the 1 percent and Corpocrats can break any law , kill folks , money launder , break existing financial crime laws - and the penalty is a fine , no time......But don't jaywalk if you are the average joe or jane or four cop goons arrest you !