Venezuela Lives A Month Of Protests And Violence

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

Venezuela has been living in violence and chaos for a month since the opposition took to the streets to protest the attempts of President Nicolás Maduro to remain in power, annulling the national parliament controlled by his rivals.

At least 36 people have lost their lives, according to a count by the Reuters agency, in the hard clashes that have taken place almost daily in opposition marches with the National Guard troops deployed by the authorities of the Bolivarian regime.

Despite international condemnations and calls for dialogue, tension continues to rise in the South American country after Maduro responded to the opposition challenge with a call for a process of constitutional change that his rivals describe as a coup d'etat, for allegedly replacing the democratic process in force so far.

The images that constantly arrive from the South American country show a multitude of opposition supporters occupying the main roads of Caracas and other cities that are repressed with charges and tear gas by the security forces.

The opposition has also been particularly concerned about rumors circulating about Leopoldo López, one of its leaders who has been imprisoned for three years in what international human rights organizations describe as an unfair process.

His wife Lilian Tintori has stood outside the prison where he is believed to be being held to demand that they allow him to visit and to confirm that he is in good health.

All this in the midst of a long and deep economic crisis that has plunged the oil country, in the past one of the richest in the continent, in a spiral of misery and scarcity, in which it is very difficult to find food and basic items.