Everything you need to know about the Venezuelan protests

[Bacchus4.0]

http://news.yahoo.com/everything-know-venezuelan-protests-100000264.html

What are the protests about?
A broken economy, crime, shortages of basic goods, and political repression. When the populist President Hugo Chávez died last year, he left Venezuela's economy and civil society in shambles. Chávez's handpicked successor, President Nicolás Maduro, has none of Chávez's charisma, but essentially the same socialist policies and autocratic governing style, and the country has quickly deteriorated. Its murder rate of 25,000 per year is among the world's highest, with a Venezuelan killed every 20 minutes. Crime is so bad that the government stopped tracking it, claiming the data was being "politicized." Kidnappings and robberies are rampant, and the police have been corrupted by criminal gangs. Venezuela exports oil and imports nearly everything else, so when global oil prices stalled this year, it triggered a runaway annual inflation rate of 57 percent, as the bolivar currency lost much of its value. Families have been unable to buy toilet paper, flour, cooking oil, and other staples. "We are in a critical situation," says Caracas pollster Luis Vicente León, who warns that much of the country is near open revolt.



Who is leading the protests?
Protests started among students but quickly morphed into a general anti-government movement. Political opponents of Maduro, including opposition leader Leopoldo López, called for major demonstrations on Feb. 12, the bicentennial of the Battle of La Victoria, a pivotal moment in Venezuela's war of independence when students and youth joined the fight. Those marches were largely peaceful except in Caracas, where three people were killed. Maduro blamed López for the violence and ordered his arrest, and that touched off a wave of further demonstrations in cities across the country. The more harshly police cracked down on protests, the angrier people got. "The Venezuelan government has openly embraced the classic tactics of an authoritarian regime, jailing its opponents, muzzling the media, and intimidating civil society," says José Miguel Vivanco of Human Rights Watch.

How did the protests turn violent?
Mostly, it's the result of a crackdown by armed pro-government militants known as colectivos. These groups have long been active in community service work in poor neighborhoods, but they also act as enforcer gangs, and now they have descended on protest camps, beating demonstrators. A subgroup of these, the motorizados, have rampaged through crowds on motorcycles and are believed to have shot and killed some of the student protest leaders. The protesters, too, have responded with violence, but less lethally — throwing rocks or stringing up wire across the streets to knock riders from their motorcycles. Maduro's security forces also have beaten protesters and may have fired live ammunition; dozens of the more than 1,500 people arrested say they were tortured in prison.

What does the government say?
Maduro's government contends that the protests are the work of fascists supported by U.S. agitators. A week after the first protest, his government kicked out three U.S. diplomats, saying they had been "training, financing, and creating youth organizations to promote violence in Venezuela." Just last week, Maduro wrote an op-ed in The New York Times taking issue with the American media narrative of repressive police versus peaceful protesters. The U.S., he said, is "on the side of the 1 percent who wish to drag our country back to when the 99 percent were shut out of political life and only the few — including American companies — benefited from Venezuela's oil." He claimed that the majority of Venezuelans, the poor, support his government.

[MADem]

1. I think the heart of the protests was the sincerity of some of the student leaders, who

are just regular kids striving to get an education to make a living, who love their country and who aren't interested in leaving. I think that when Maduro's thugs started killing people like Bassil de la Costa and Daniel Tinoco (full metal jacket, too, the autopsy said), it became obvious that there was something really "off" about the government's response to these objections...never mind that the right to protest is supposedly enshrined in the VZ constitution.

I guess all bets are off when the Fearless Leader rules by "decree" (while taking his decree suggestions from Havana).

[Bacchus4.0]

3. yeah, he is a disgrace n/t

[agbdf]

2. A very sad situation indeed.

Yes, Maduro is far from perfect but, he was legitimately elected and still probably enjoys the support of a slight majority of Venezuelans. His human rights abuses are well documented and disturbing yet, the opposition has shown it's own propensity for violence as well.

It's a terrible situation which is destroying the country economically and ripping apart the very fabric of Venezuelan society. Life has become cheap there and, with the economy in the tank, there will, unfortunately, be more violence and loss of life to come.

I hope our country never becomes so deeply and violently divided.

[Bacchus4.0]

4. I doubt he enjoys the support of a majority these days

but other than that I agree.

[agbdf]

5. You might be right

Perhaps he doesn't, I don't know for sure. What bothers me most is that some of the violent protesters are hard right types and I do worry about them making gains that they otherwise were unable to achieve through the ballot box.

[Bacchus4.0]

6. they couldn't have a worse leadership than they do now n/t