Anti-Maduro protests renew Venezuela turmoil
AFP
February 15, 2014, 10:57 am
Caracas (AFP) - Students opposed to Venezuela's government returned to the streets Friday to protest against President Nicolas Maduro after a week of violence that saw three people killed at political rallies.
The tension that surrounds the demonstrations in Caracas was underscored by a report from Twitter that the government has blocked pictures of the unrest from being shared between users on the social messaging service.
Hundreds of protesters blocked the capital as part of an anti-government movement launched 10 days ago by students, backed by some opposition politicians. Rampant crime, soaring inflation and basic goods shortages are their main grievances.
Despite having the world's largest proven reserves of crude oil, the country remains economically divided with the past week seeing the biggest show of defiance to Maduro's leadership since he took over from Hugo Chavez last year.
"We are here once again to demand the release of students who were detained and because we can't live with such violence," Maria Correia, 20, said in a wealthy neighborhood in the eastern section of Caracas.
Under a hot sun, the young protesters gathered near Plaza Altamira, wearing the national flag on their backs and brandishing signs that read "We are all Venezuela, peace for students" and "We want peace, no more violence."
Other protests took place across the country, including in the western city of San Cristobal.
The protesters have demanded that Maduro step down, but top opposition leader Henrique Capriles has said the political conditions are not favorable to the president's exit.
Maduro has called a demonstration by his supporters "for peace and against fascism" on Saturday.
The dueling processions follow a fierce opposition demonstration in Caracas on Wednesday in which a pro-government demonstrator and two students died. Dozens more were wounded and many were arrested.
Expressing concern at the growing unrest, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Organization of American States demanded explanations about the events.
- Foreign media accused -
Most Venezuelan television channels have abstained from covering the unrest of recent days, after the National Telecommunications Council media regulator warned of sanctions against outlets that "encourage violence."
In remarks late Thursday, Maduro accused foreign media, including Agence France-Presse (AFP), of manipulating coverage of the unrest, and took Colombian 24-hour cable news channel NTN24 off the air.
And on Friday, Twitter, based in San Francisco, provided a tip on how to sidestep a block on pictures being shared on the network -- instructing Venezuelan users to have tweets delivered to smartphones in text messages.
Maduro has also ordered the arrest of a senior opposition figure and declared that he would not be overthrown -- though protesters say a coup is not their goal.
Wednesday's violence led to a security crackdown in cities across a country where the economy has been battered by inflation of more than 50 percent.
Venezuela -- with an institutionally socialist government dependent on oil revenues in a state-led system -- has been hurt by a shortage of hard currency, while dwindling supplies of consumer goods have frustrated even some government supporters.
The government blames "bourgeois" local business interests for trying to profit from its largely low- and middle-income political base.
