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Venezuela's opposition firebrand Leopoldo López to appear in court
Venezuela violence continues after arrest of Leopoldo López
(about 5 hours later)
The Venezuelan opposition's agitator-in-chief, Leopoldo López, is set to appear before a judge to face terrorism charges as violent nationwide protests moved into a second week of street clashes and shootings.
Major Venezuelan cities were racked by fire, teargas and volleys of rubber bullets on Wednesday night as anti-government protests escalated after the arrest of opposition figurehead, Leopoldo López.
Supporters gathered outside the palace of justice on Wednesday to show solidarity for the politician, who has emerged as a leading anti-government voice in a week in which at least four people have been killed and dozens wounded.
National guard tanks, troops and armed supporters on motorbikes moved into districts of Caracas on the orders of President Nicolás Maduro, who vowed to quell what he called a "coup" instigated by López and supported by the United States, which denies any involvement.
Clashes in the past 24 hours have seen some of the worst violence yet. On Wednesday aA 22-year-old beauty queen died from wounds she received when a group of protesters were shot at the previous day. Génesis Carmona was one of nine people wounded during the march in Valencia, Venezuela's third city.
Both sides blamed the other for the worsening unrest, which follows four deaths and dozens of injuries last week. The centre of Valencia – a northern industrial city in Carabobo state – was filled with flames as demonstrators blocked the streets.
State television said a woman in Caracas died after an ambulance taking her to hospital was blocked by opposition protesters.
"They are burning tires and other flammable products which you can hear exploding," one local government official, Jean Carlos Mendoza, told the Guardian.
In San Cristóbal, the Chavista governor, Jose Vielma Mora, said protesters had thrown molotov cocktails and grenades during the most recent marches. His residence was vandalised two weeks ago in similar incidents.
This followed a shooting attack on a demonstration the previous day that killed 22-year-old beauty queen Génesis Carmona ad injured eight others.
A Catholic priest and campaigner was wounded during a protest in the western city of Maracaibo, Venezuela's second largest city, when the national guard tried to disperse an opposition rally using teargas and rubber bullets. The condition of José Palmar, a vocal anti-government activist, was unclear.
Mendoza and another local official said the attack was retribution by government supporters for an earlier arson and shooting attack on the house of the ruling party governor.
With unrest continuing in several other cities, including Caracas, Venezuela's president, Nicolás Maduro, warned that an attempted coup was under way, backed by the United States and instigated by López, who handed himself in to the authorities on Tuesday after several days in hiding.
"This wasn't opposition protesters. This wasn't students. This was a provocation by people with training. It was a response by the people who guard the house of the PSUV party that was shot at," Mendoza said.
Harvard-educated López is facing charges of intentional double homicide, terrorism, damage to public property and inciting violence after a student protest last week turned deadly and scores of public buildings were destroyed. He denies the charges.
The state governor, Francisco Ameliach, denied involvement and said the protesters were being used to stir up unrest. "What is happening is a coup," said Ameliach. "They have used our young as a detonator."
Given the firm control that the ruling Chavista bloc has over the judicial system, the judgment on his fate is likely to be a political as much as a legal decision. A member of his legal team, Bernardo Pulido, told the Guardian the odds were stacked against his client. "We are facing a titanic task. We don't trust this judicial system, we don't trust any institutions here. We don't have fair judges that can be impartial," Pulido said.
Elsewhere the national guard were more assertive than they have previously been in the demonstrations, which are in their second week.
López makes no secret of his desire to unseat Maduro – who was elected last year and subsequently led his party to victories in municipal polls last December – through public demonstrations. He and other radicals in the opposition have launched a campaign known as La Salida (The Exit).
Daniel Ceballos, the opposition mayor of San Cristobal, said students were dispersed when they tried to protest peacefully. "I heard the commander calling the protesters terrorists and giving the order to trap the students. This is the face of a government that represses", he said.
Last week he called on Venezuelans to take to the streets to protest against the recent imprisonment of several students across the oil-rich nation. The demonstrations swelled to include thousands of people showing their discontent over mounting inflation and soaring crime rates.
Maduro accused Ceballos of being backed by foreign insurgents. The president said the San Cristobal mayor received training in Mexico and brought paramilitaries across the border from Colombia.
Following Tuesday's detention the López camp has asked supporters to email videos or photographs that might shed light on the deaths of two of the three people killed during last week's protest.
The chaos followed the detention of López, who came out of hiding on Tuesday and handed himself in to the police after negotiating terms with the head of parliament, Diosdado Cabello.
López is charged with these two fatalities. Although the identity of the killer or killers remains unproven, speculation is rife that they were members of the security forces.
López had been expected to appear before a judge on Wednesday morning to face charges of terrorism and murder but his preliminary hearing was delayed amid growing turmoil on the streets.
Earlier this week a team of journalists from a national newspaper, Ultimas Noticias, presented a compilation of amateur and professional video reconstructing the moment that one of the protesters was killed in downtown Caracas long after López addressed the crowds and most people had returned home.
Earlier in the day state television said a woman in Caracas died after an ambulance taking her to hospital was blocked by opposition protesters.
In the video a man in civilian clothes standing next to members of national security forces can be seen shooting at a group of students. He then rides off on the back of a motorcycle with a government licence plate. Under the Venezuelan constitution, weapons are banned in public demonstrations.
In the Altavista area of the capital, where student demonstrators had set up camp for several days, witnesses said national guard troops fired rubber bullets and teargas to break up the gathering and stood by as about 60 plainclothes government supporters on motorbikes shot at students.
Adding to the mystery, Maduro said last week that the gun used to kill one of the students was also used in the murder of a member of a colectivo – a group of militia-like government supporters known to have caused turmoil during the protests in other cities. How the same gun came to shoot people who were ostensibly on opposite sides of the protest has raised suspicions about possible revenge attacks, internal feuds or the use of agents provocateurs.
"The tanks, the guard and the motorizados were all shooting at the students. There are several wounded," said Ines Duran, who had been among several residents in the affluent neighbourhood providing food and water to the students. "They have the weapons, we only have sticks and rocks." The government said nine people were injured in the clashes, including six with gunshot wounds. At least two buildings – Roraima and Las Americas – were left without power.
Despite the confusion, the government has blamed López. But far from hurting his reputation, the extra attention appears to have strengthened his standing in the opposition movement led by Henrique Capriles.
A Catholic priest and campaigner was wounded during a protest in the western city of Maracaibo, Venezuela's second-largest city, when the national guard tried to disperse an opposition rally using teargas and rubber bullets. The condition of José Palmar, a vocal anti-government activist, was unclear.
A dramatic video message made while in hiding, and a megaphone speech that López gave before turning himself in, have propelled him into the limelight at a time when the country is struggling with inflation running at a 56% and sky-high murder rates.
Maduro – who has led his party to two election victories since replacing Hugo Chávez – has blamed López for stirring up violence in the oil-rich nation. The Harvard-educated opposition radical now faces charges of intentional double homicide, terrorism, damage to public property and sedition.
After his detention on Tuesday hundreds of thousands of protesters clad in white took to Caracas's main thoroughfare, blocking the vehicle in which López was being transported.
López makes no secret of his desire to unseat Maduro through public demonstrations. He and other radicals in the opposition have launched a campaign known as La Salida (The Exit).
Maduro said López negotiated terms before turning himself in during a midnight meeting the previous night with the head of parliament, Diosdado Cabello. The president said Cabello – who is close to the military – personally drove López to a jail outside Caracas to "protect his safety" after intelligence reports suggested the extreme right would try to murder the opposition politician in an attempt to create a martyr and destabilise the country.
Last week he called on Venezuelans to take to the streets to protest against the recent imprisonment of students. The demonstrations swelled to include thousands of people showing their discontent over soaring crime rates and the world's highest level of inflation: 56%.
These fears were repeated by López's wife, Lilian Tintori. "There were great threats that they wanted to assassinate Leopoldo López. The government spoke to the family to safeguard Leopoldo and they did. They protected his safety from Plaza Brion to the palace of justice," she said in a television interview.
López denies responsibility for the violence that has followed, although the government implicates him in two deaths last week. The killings took place long after he left the area and videos and photographs suggest the gunman was on the government side of the protest line. The authorities insist, however, that López is to blame.
For Pulido, however, it is the government that has put López's life at risk by blaming the opposition leader for the death of a member of a colectivo. "López's life has always been on risk because he is high-profile politician. It is more so now with the government blaming him for the death of a member of a colectivo," Pulido said.
"We are working to sanction those who are responsible not only as material authors but as intellectual authors. That is, those who call for or incite violence. These messages are direct but sometimes also subliminal," said Luisa Ortega, a public prosecutor.
Wednesday's hearings will decide whether López awaits trial in jail or from home. "We are working to sanction those who are responsible not only as material authors but as intellectual authors. That is, those who call for or incite violence. These messages are direct but sometimes also subliminal," said Luisa Ortega, a public prosecutor.
Far from hurting his reputation, the accusations appear to have strengthened support for López's radical approach in an opposition movement led by Henrique Capriles.
Either way, he looks set to take the initiative from Capriles and become the figurehead of a more confrontational Venezuelan opposition.
After López's detention on Tuesday hundreds of thousands of protesters clad in white took to Caracas's main thoroughfare, blocking the vehicle in which López was being transported.
In the short term this may suit Maduro. David Smilde, a senior fellow at the human rights advocacy group Washington Office on Latin America, who is currently in Caracas, said the government camp was likely to benefit from a more entrenched political battle because it had the bigger base of support – as it has shown in several recent elections.
David Smilde, a senior fellow at the human rights advocacy group Washington Office on Latin America, who is in Caracas, said the government camp was likely to benefit from a more entrenched political battle because it had the bigger base of support – as shown in elections.
"It would make sense for the government if López was the figurehead of opposition," Smilde said. "It has long been government strategy to polarise, to create a sense of them and us – because they have the numbers."
"It would make sense for the government if López was the figurehead of opposition," Smilde said. "It has long been government strategy to polarise, to create a sense of them and us, because they have the numbers."
But he cautioned that the situation could change if the violence intensified or the economy slipped further into crisis. "In that case, whoever is head of the opposition will be in a very strong position," he said.
He cautioned that the situation could change if the violence intensified or the economy slipped further into crisis. "In that case whoever is head of the opposition will be in a very strong position," he said.
