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Venezuelan protests: Two killed as armed vigilantes on motorcycles attack anti-government protesters A Venezuelan Spring? Three killed as armed vigilantes on motorcycles attack anti-government protesters
(about 20 hours later)
Armed vigilantes on motorcycles attacked anti-government demonstrators on Wednesday, setting off a stampede of frightened people by firing into crowds after the biggest protest to date against President Nicolas Maduro's year-old administration. Two people were killed. At least three people have been shot dead in Caracas after a peaceful protest produced violent clashes between pro- and anti-government activists. Two died when armed men on motorcycles began firing into a crowd of opposition demonstrators, who had gathered to protest the policies of the country’s socialist President, Nicolas Maduro. A third man was killed later as the violence spread through the city.
Chaos erupted in downtown Caracas when the gang roared up and began shooting at more than 100 protesters who had been sparring with security forces at the tail end of heated but otherwise peaceful protests by hard-line members of the opposition. Most participants in the demonstrations had already gone home. The deaths followed two weeks of increasingly heated protests across Venezuela, the most widespread unrest since Mr Maduro’s controversial election victory last year. Officials said afterwards that some 25 people had been injured in the clashes on Wednesday, more than 30 arrested, at least five police cars burned and some government offices vandalised. The protesters reportedly threw stones at the security forces and burned tyres in the streets.
As people fled in panic, one demonstrator fell to the ground with a bullet wound in his head. Onlookers screamed “assassins” as they rushed the 24-year-old marketing student to a police vehicle. He was later identified by family members as Bassil Da Costa. Around 10,000 people attended the opposition rally in central Caracas, which began calmly as the crowd marched to the federal prosecutor’s office to call for the release of 13 fellow activists detained during similar protests in recent days.
Also killed was the leader of a pro-government 23rd of January collective, as militant supporters of Venezuela's socialist administration call themselves. National Assembly President Diosdado Cabello said the “revolutionary” known by his nickname Juancho was “vilely assassinated by the fascists” but he didn't provide details. Mr Maduro, a 51-year-old former bus driver, succeeded his political mentor, Hugo Chavez, following Mr Chavez’s death in March 2013. Opposition critics say his administration has presided over and exacerbated the country’s problems with corruption, crime and cost of living: Venezuela has the highest inflation rate in the region and one of the highest murder rates in the world. Leopoldo Lopez, leader of the opposition party Popular Will, told the crowd, “All of these problems – shortages, inflation, insecurity, the lack of opportunities – have a single culprit: the government.”
More than 30 anti-government protesters were arrested and were being investigated for inciting violence, Interior Minister Miguel Rodriguez Torres said. As the rally concluded and the crowd began to disperse, some protesters clashed with police, at which point the men on motorcycles – thought to be pro-government vigilantes – appeared and opened fire. The crowd scattered, but one anti-government protester, later identified as 24-year-old student Bassil da Costa, was shot in the head and died.
About two dozen people were believed injured during the clashes and were being treated at hospitals, although the government did not provide a tally of casualties, said Inti Rodriguez, a member of the human rights group Provea. A pro-government activist, Juan “Juancho” Montoya, was also shot in the melée. The president of Venezuela’s National Assembly, Diosdado Cabello, announced afterwards that Mr Montoya had been “vilely assassinated by the fascists”. It remains unclear if he and Mr Da Costa were shot by the motorcyclists or by other gunmen. As dusk fell, the violence spread east towards the wealthy Chacao district, where a third protester was shot dead.
The unrest comes on the heels of a wave of increasingly violent, student-led protests that have spread across Venezuela the past two weeks. Their anger is being fueled by frustration with Maduro's handling of the inflation-plagued economy, worsening crime and human rights concerns. In a televised address, a defiant Mr Maduro blamed the unrest on a “neo-fascist upsurge”. The opposition protesters, he said, “want to topple the government through violence. They have no ethics, no morals... We will not permit any more attacks.”
Pro-government supporters countered with a march of their own to express support for Maduro, who has accused opponents of trying to violently oust him from power just two months after his party's candidates prevailed by a landslide in mayoral elections. On Thursday, authorities issued a warrant for Mr Lopez, for charges including instigating crime and terrorism. Lopez, ex-mayor of Chacao, said he was simply a scapegoat and that government supporters had posed as student protesters in order to instigate the violence and then blame it on the opposition. Lopez told Reuters: “I’m innocent. I have a clear conscience because we called for peace.”
While anti-government demonstrators vented frustration over a range of issues they were united in their resolve to force Maduro out of office by constitutional means. Lopez and other opposition politicians insisted the protests would continue in spite of the bloodshed. Henrique Capriles, who ran against Mr Maduro in 2012’s presidential race, tweeted, “We condemn violence! We know the vast majority rejects and condemns it.”
“All of these problems — shortages, inflation, insecurity, the lack of opportunities — have a single culprit: the government,” Leopoldo Lopez, a Harvard University-trained former mayor, told a crowd of about 10,000 people gathered at Plaza Venezuela in Caracas. Antonio Ledezma, the mayor of Caracas, said, “Just as we condemn the violent incidents, we say to all Venezuelan families that we have to remain ready to continue fighting, calmly but with determination. You have to know, Mr Maduro, that whatever you do, what started today will not stop until change is achieved in peace and with democracy for all Venezuelans.”
Lopez, who leads a faction of the opposition that has challenged what it considers the meek leadership of two-time presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, called the protests “a moral and patriotic duty.” The protests have been largely populated by students, who have also staged mass demonstrations in the western cities of San Cristobal and Merida, where at least three people were injured by gunfire during protests on Wednesday, according to the AP.
“If we don't do it now, then when? And if it's not us, who will?” he said. Venezuela had an inflation rate of 56.2 per cent last year, and thanks to strict foreign exchange controls its citizens have recently faced shortages of medicine, spare parts, food, milk and toilet paper.
The crowd then marched to the federal prosecutor's office to demand the release of 13 demonstrators who human rights groups say were illegally arrested during the past two weeks of protests. While the opposition blames Mr Maduro, the President has blamed unnamed “saboteurs” and “profit-hungry corrupt businessmen”.
A smaller group of mostly students lingered after most demonstrators went home, setting fire to rubbish and ripping apart concrete pavements and steel grating to throw at police and national guardsmen, who responded by firing rubber bullets into the air.
Almost none of the scenes of violence were broadcast on local television, which is dominated by state-run channels and private networks reluctant to criticize the government, leaving Venezuelans to turn to social media to stay informed. Several international media outlets were blocked from documenting the clashes as police roughed up journalists and seized their camera equipment.
Across town, Maduro told his supporters that he won't back down in the face of what he said is a conspiracy by opponents to provoke violence and destabilize his government.
“A Nazi-fascist faction has emerged that wants to take Venezuela down the path of violence,” the 51-year-old former bus driver said. “What we're going to have is peace and prosperity.”
Protests also took place in other cities, including Merida and San Cristobal, where students clashed with police in recent days.
Merida Mayor Carlos Garcia said three people were injured by gunfire during protests on Tuesday when a group of hooded government supporters began firing into the crowd. Maduro acknowledged the incident, but said his supporters shouldn't respond in kind to what he called the opposition's violent provocations.
AP