{"id":107849,"date":"2014-02-13T20:45:00","date_gmt":"2014-02-13T20:45:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/?guid=20e7dc0fa5f69d9666c4af843930feba"},"modified":"2014-02-13T20:45:00","modified_gmt":"2014-02-13T20:45:00","slug":"street-violence-in-venezuela","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rinf.com\/alt-news\/editorials\/street-violence-in-venezuela\/","title":{"rendered":"Street Violence in Venezuela"},"content":{"rendered":"
Street Violence in Venezuela<\/b><\/div>\n
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by Stephen Lendman<\/div>\n
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Since Chavez took office in February 1999, Washington instigated political, economic and street violence destabilization schemes.<\/div>\n
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On February 4, right-wing manipulated anti-government student protests began in San Cristobal. They erupted elsewhere. They turned violent. Washington’s dirty hands are involved.<\/div>\n
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At issue is destabilizing Venezuela. It’s toppling its government. Washington tried it before. Chavistas foiled an April 2002 coup attempt.<\/div>\n
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A 64-day 2002 – 03 general strike and oil management lockout followed. It caused severe economic disruption.<\/div>\n
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An August 2004 national recall referendum failed. Chavez won overwhelmingly. Other disruptions occur regularly. They continue. Current ones are the latest. More on them below.<\/div>\n
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Washington wants Bolivarianism crushed. It wants social justice ended. It wants Venezuela returned to its bad old days.<\/div>\n
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It wants state enterprises privatized. It wants control of Venezuelan oil. Its resources are the world’s largest. They exceed Saudi Arabian reserves. It’s a prize Big Oil predators covet. <\/div>\n
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Obama wants Venezuela’s government toppled. He killed Chavez. He was either poisoned or infected with cancer causing substances.<\/div>\n
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Maduro believes he’s targeted the same way. He knows Obama wants him ousted. He wants pro-US stooge governance replacing him. He likely wants him dead. Perhaps he’s plotting to kill him.<\/div>\n
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Eliminating independent leaders is longstanding US policy. Bolivarian fairness is a thorn in Washington’s side. <\/div>\n
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It’s the threat of a good example. Crushing it is America’s top regional objective. Leopoldo Lopez is an anti-Bolivarian fascist politician.<\/div>\n
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He’s a former Chacao Municipality of Caracas mayor. He heads the anti-Bolivarian right-wing Voluntad Popular (Popular Will) party. <\/div>\n
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In mid-2013, he said “we are not going to wait six years to be given change.”<\/div>\n
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“There cannot be peace.” He urged anti-government elements to restart street protests. Last April, violence took nine lives.<\/div>\n
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Dozens were injured. Maduro blamed opposition leader Henrique Capriles. Lopez was involved. Maduro calls them fascists.<\/div>\n
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He accused protestors of wanting “injuries and deaths. They want to project images to the world in order to disrupt our country.”<\/div>\n
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Student protestors are manipulated. Some wear masks and hoods. They claim they’re protesting insecurity.<\/div>\n
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They blocked roads, burned tires and threw stones. They attacked a government building project. They targeted Tachira state Governor Vielma Mora’s residence.<\/div>\n
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They broke through his main gate. They threw stones, bottles and “some kind of molotov bomb,” said Mora. They threatened his wife.<\/div>\n
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She blamed Lopez for what happened. He denied involvement. His words ring hollow. He called for protests. Fascists love violence.<\/div>\n
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Governor Mora said 12 police guarding his residence were injured. Authorities identified the perpetrators.<\/div>\n
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Maduro said violent protestors will be punished. He urged peaceful Venezuelans not to “fall for the provocation of hate-filled minorities that want to deviate us from the construction of the homeland and fill the country with chaos.”<\/div>\n
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Protests continued through Wednesday. Radical participants chanted “Maduro resign now.” Witnesses reported seeing indiscriminate live fire. Various buildings were targeted.<\/div>\n
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Some protesters threw rocks. An attempt was made to storm a Merida communal house. At a main intersection, masked protesters forced passengers off buses. They did so at gunpoint. <\/div>\n
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Motorists were attacked. An independent journalist was targeted. Protesters threatened to kill her. “Give us your camera or we’ll kill you,” they said.<\/div>\n
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Venezuelan fascist elements manipulate students. Washington’s dirty hands are involved.<\/div>\n
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Liberation is a right-wing student movement. Villca Fernandez is national coordinator. Venezuelans face “growing insecurity,” he claimed.<\/div>\n
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“Maduro has to understand that the student movement will never recognize him as president.” <\/div>\n
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“He should resign, and we’ll be in the streets until we recover freedom.” He urged “all Venezuelans (to) go out into the streets and raise your voice against the violence.”<\/div>\n
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He wrongfully claims it’s state-sponsored. Radical students instigated it. Lopez is involved. He was heading for Tachira state. He planned to address student protesters.<\/div>\n
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He was involved in a Caracas airport incident. He physically attacked facility staff. His flight was delayed.<\/div>\n
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Ruling United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) leader Diosdada Cabello said he’ll be prosecuted for assault.<\/div>\n
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Youth Ministry head Victor Clark called protesters a minority fringe. They don’t “represent Venezuelan youth who want peace, to study, and to use the university as a space to grow,” he said.<\/div>\n
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February 12 is National Youth Day. It commemorates the victorious 1814 Battle of La Victoria. <\/div>\n
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It was during Venezuela’s war of independence. Celebratory events are held. This year was a bicentennial remembrance.<\/div>\n
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Central University of Venezuela student leader Alejandro Padron said Lopez and those around him called for “violent mobilizations” at this year’s commemoration. <\/div>\n
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He urged protesters to “destabilize the country.” He hired “organized criminals.” He “promote(d) criminal acts.”<\/div>\n
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Communist Youth of Venezuela secretary Hector Rodriguez said opposition elements “aim to use violence to rupture the process of change that our country is carrying out.”<\/div>\n
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Maduro warned about “plans coming out of Miami to fill Venezuela with blood.” He urged Venezuelans not to “fall for the provocations.”<\/div>\n
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His government promotes peace and stability. Fascist opponents “combin(e) strategies of economic war, psychological war, and trying to fill the country with blood,” he said.<\/div>\n
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Violence marked this year’s Youth Day commemoration. Hard-right protesters attacked government buildings. Bystanders were targeted.<\/div>\n
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Two deaths were reported. Around two dozen others were injured. About 30 arrests were made.<\/div>\n
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Maduro spoke publicly in Caracas. He did so around mid-afternoon. He praised peaceful morning celebrants.<\/div>\n
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Chavista community leader Juan Montoya was shot to death shortly afterwards. Cabello condemned his killing.<\/div>\n
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He blamed right-wing extremists. “They are fascists, murderers,” he said. On the one hand, they urge “dialogue.”<\/div>\n
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On the other, they commit cold-blooded murder. They want Venezuela destabilized. Cabello urged calm. He cautioned against reprisals.<\/div>\n
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Hooligans attacked various government buildings. Maduro said opposition thugs tried setting five police patrol vehicles ablaze. Some targeted the attorney general’s office.<\/div>\n
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Others tried attacking the Miraflores Palace. It’s Maduro’s official workplace. It’s Venezuela’s White House.<\/div>\n
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Imagine how area cops, secret service operatives, perhaps backed by heavily armed Marines would respond to this type incident in Washington.<\/div>\n
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They’d be screaming major media headlines. They’d be no mercy shown. They’d be unrestrained police state violence. <\/div>\n
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They’d be protesters’ blood in the streets. They’d be mass arrests. They’d be prosecutions, convictions and long imprisonments.<\/div>\n
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Venezuelan government supporters way outnumber extremist opponents.<\/div>\n
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One pro-government Youth Day marcher said he “believes in the project of our country. (It’s) important to show that we are many. There are a lot of people who” support Bolivarianism.<\/div>\n
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Others said they want Venezuela kept out of the hands of violent extremists. They want sovereign independent governance preserved.<\/div>\n
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Maduro said two killed Venezuelans were shot in the head like “sharp shooters who murdered” civilians during Washington’s aborted April 2002 coup attempt.<\/div>\n
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He warned violent protesters to expect arrests. He called them “trained groups…prepared to overthrow the government in a violent way.”<\/div>\n
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“They have no ethics, no morals. We will not permit more attacks,” he stressed.<\/div>\n
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Foreign Minister Elias Jaua accused Lopez of being the “intellectual author of the deaths and injuries in Caracas.” <\/div>\n
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A warrant was issued for his arrest. He lives in a wealthy Caracas district. His whereabouts at this time isn’t known.<\/div>\n
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Protester numbers are small. They make up for size with extreme violence. Fascist extremists manipulate them. <\/div>\n
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Washington has a long history of inciting this type violence. It targeted Venezuela numerous time before. This appears to be the latest outbreak.<\/div>\n
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Whether April 2002 2.0 is planned remains to be seen. It’s unlikely. Protester are too few in number. Right-wing extremist leaders are known.<\/div>\n
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Thursday morning Caracas streets were calm. Perhaps before the storm continues. Early reports suggested no violence. <\/div>\n
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Most government opposition elements deplore it. They prefer expressing their views politically. <\/div>\n
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Fascists operate their own way. Hooligans are easy to recruit and manipulate. Washington money funds them. It’s the American way. Rogue states operate this way.<\/div>\n
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Millions of dollars are spent destabilizing Venezuela. Obama exceeds the worst of George Bush. He wants Marduro ousted. Perhaps he wants him dead.<\/div>\n
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On February 13, Telesur<\/span><\/a> interviewed Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua. He reported three deaths and 66 injured.<\/div>\n
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“The Venezuelan state is obligated to act justly to curb these violent fascist groups,” he said. They “cannot stop the Bolivarian Revolution.”<\/div>\n
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All measures will be taken to curb violence, he added. He expects a Western smear campaign blaming Venezuela’s government for curbing street thug violence.<\/div>\n
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Fascists want “clashes between sectors and opponents of the Revolution. They want violence spread throughout the country and thus start a war,” he stressed.<\/div>\n
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Corporate interests want Bolivarianism ended, he added. Extremists like Leopoldo Lopez “have received money from US” sources.<\/div>\n
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State Department-funded National Endowment for Democracy (NED) money is involved. It’s an anti-democratic initiative. <\/div>\n
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It prioritizes destabilization and regime change. Likeminded US organizations operate the same way. Venezuela is a prime target. It’s been so for 15 years.<\/div>\n
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Jaua urged Venezuelans to have confidence in measures authorities took. Others will follow “in the framework of the constitution and democracy,” he said.<\/div>\n
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Early Thursday, Maduro met with National Executive representatives. “We are united as a single force that we are\u00c3\u00a2\u00e2\u201a\u00ac\u00a6We (will) confront and defeat the attempt to truncate democracy,” he stressed.<\/div>\n
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The Venezuela Solidarity Campaign<\/span><\/a> (VSC) issued a statement. It condemned “extreme right-wing violence.” It “seeks the ‘exit’ of the government.”<\/div>\n
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It’s fascist manipulated and directed. Washington’s dirty hands are involved.<\/div>\n
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“La Salida (The Ousting) is the political strategy identified with extreme right elements of the Venezuelan opposition’s leaders,” said VSC. <\/div>\n
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“Its declared aim is to oust the democratically elected government of President Maduro well before he finishes his constitutional mandate in 2019.”<\/div>\n
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Street violence shows what Bolivarian supporters face. On Wednesday, fascist opposition leader Lopez said violence won’t end until “we manage to remove those who govern us.”<\/div>\n
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Right-wing extremists choose street “violence to make up for their electoral failings.”<\/div>\n
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La Salida followed Maduro’s productive dialogue with opposition mayors. It focused on stabilizing Venezuela.<\/div>\n
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It aimed to resolve differences through dialogue and negotiations. Discussions included ways to combat crime and economic speculation.<\/div>\n
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According to VCR: <\/div>\n
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Right-wing extremists, “and their external funders, see Maduro’s calls for collaboration in peace and harmony as a threat to their illegal, undemocratic and unconstitutional practices.”<\/div>\n
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“We therefore:<\/div>\n
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