Darkness Descending on Venezuela

This week we are turning our attention to Venezuela, where the worse unrest in 10 years is being marked by violent clashes in Caracas between police and anti-government demonstrators led by former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles have led to an intensifying situation and talk of a coup attempt. As of this week, 13 people have been killed in the violence, with no signs of a slowdown. On 25 February, the US ordered three Venezuelan diplomats out of the country in reprisal for Maduro's expulsion of three American embassy staff accused of fomenting the current unrest.

Our partners at Southern Pulse are on the ground in Venezuela closely monitoring the situation and providing us with dispatches and prognoses.

Southern Pulse expects protests to continue in Venezuela, disrupting economic activity nationwide, particularly in the capital. While the opposition is highly unlikely to succeed in removing the PSUV from power in the short term, the protests are creating significant turmoil and internal government tensions that are weakening the standing of President Maduro.

Non-government organizations in Venezuela, inclusing Provea, Foro Penal and the Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Universidad Católica Andrés Bello de Caracas, report that over 200 protesters were detained in the last week of protest with some alleging police abuse or torture. Complaints by protesters in custody include rape, electric shock, beatings, isolation and a lack of due process.

The economic crisis in Venezuela, including inflation higher than any other country in South America and scarcity of basic goods, catalyzed this series of protests. On 12 February 2014, a group of students marched to the Ministerio Público to request the release of a group of students previously detained. That march ended in violence, leaving two dead. Other frustrated citizens joined the students while pro-government forces threatened, and ultimately attacked the students and other demonstrators.

Accusations of censorship are also gaining momentum after the government of Venezuela admitted to ousting NTN24 a Colombia television station, and the last independent televised media remaining in Caracas, and the only media showing live video coverage of the 12 February protests. A spokesperson for Twitter, Nu Wexler, also confirmed, in an interview with Bloomberg, that the Venezuelan government blocked Twitter's image servers there leading to outages reported by users.

The opposition movement is divided on the issue of current protests. Henrique Capriles, the former presidential candidate has carefully distanced himself from the street protests, while Leopoldo López has taken up the mantle of political leader for those out on the street. The government issued an arrest warrant for López last week, but was not been able to find him. Today, 18 February 2014, López appeared at a demonstration in Caracas and spoke to his supporters before giving himself up to authorities at the Ministerio de Interior y Justicia, a move that will not end the unrest on the streets of Caracas.

A Closer Look at the Protests

Students took to the streets in Venezuelan cities to voice anger over insecurity on their campuses and across the country, and against the Maduro administration for its failure to address citizen concerns. These demonstrations, and the subsequent clashes, are the latest in the country riven by political conflict.

Between 10 and 11 February, protestors from the Universidad Católica Santa Rosa (Ucsar) demonstrated near their campus in Caracas. Students from Ucsar denounced armed groups they say attacked marchers, offering photos and videos in support of accusations that the government backed the attackers. Early reports indicated that five of the demonstrators were wounded and taken to hospitals in Caracas, while an equal number were reported wounded at protests in the city of Mérida in west Venezuela.

In the wake of protests on 11 February, voices on both sides of the political divide staked out positions. President Maduro said that night that malefactors were seeking to "fill the country with blood," adding that it was painful to see the opposition using the nation's youth in such an irresponsible manner. Opposition legislator Miguel Pizzaro demanded the release of students detained in protests in the western state of Táchira. Pizzaro called the government's inability to see the students' demands for security as just 'political myopia,' the same myopia that prevented the government from effectively responding to economic crises.

Protests continued on 12 February. That afternoon in Caracas, unidentified assailants fired on students who occupied and refused to leave the office of the Attorney General. That attack left three protesters reported dead and well over 20 wounded. Among the dead were two students and one pro-government resident of the 23 de Enero neighborhood, a bastion of Chavista support. In the aftermath of the day's nation-wide demonstrations, Minister of the Interior, Justice and Peace Miguel Rodríguez Torres told reporters that police detained between 70 and 80 individuals equipped with masks, radios, Molotov cocktails, rocks, and other 'elements to attack police.'

President Maduro said the violence was part of plan to incite war in the streets, and pledged to prosecute members of the 'violent groups' responsible. Attorney General Luisa Ortega Díaz echoed his sentiments, saying that officials had photographs, film, and recordings with which to identify guilty parties.

Ramón Guillermo Aveledo, Secretary of the opposition party Democratic Unity Roundtable (MUD) asserted that the party's protest began and ended peacefully, and that the violence that occurred was unrelated to the march. Aveledo also announced a three-day suspension of public activities, as a sign of mourning. President of the Federation of University Centers of the Central University of Venezuela, Juan Requesens, rejected associations between the student groups and violent acts. Requesens also said that his group supported opposition leader Leopoldo López, for whom the government issued an arrest warrant. López, founder and national coordinator of the Popular Will party, insisted the demonstrations were peaceful and placed blame for the deaths on President Maduro for his deployment of government forces.

Thursday, 13 February, brought a statement by Henrique Capriles, governor of Miranda state and longstanding leader of the opposition, who affirmed that opposition parties were not trying to initiate a coup against the government.

Despite prohibitions, peaceful protests continued on 13 February 2014 while the government took the first steps to capture those responsible. The Attorney General's office ordered the Bolivarian Intelligence Service (Sebin) to detain Leopoldo López for his alleged liability for the violence of 12 February. PSUV leaders such as Jorge Rodríguez and National Assembly Diosdado Cabello have specifically blamed López, whose bench warrant named charges for conspiracy, public intimidation, murder and terrorism. López has been organizing anti-government protests under the slogan 'La Salida,' (#LaSalida) or The Exit, for the past two weeks, decrying the government's inability to control inflation, crime and consumer shortages. López's party vowed that demonstrations would continue.