By Roxana Da Silva and Camila Feijóo | April 15, 2017
https://medium.com/@camfeijoo/why-is-venezuela-summoning-for-a-worldwide-protest-4c5aa3dc07d6
In March 2017, the Venezuelan opposition reacted to the issuance of sentences 155 and 156, with which the government intended that the Supreme Court of Justice assumed the functions of the National Assembly -which is controlled by opposition politicians chosen by the people- and parliamentary immunity was delimited.
Venezuela's Chief Prosecutor Luisa Ortega Díaz, said that those decisions led to the rupture of the constitutional order. Because of this, the Supreme Court recoiled: it eliminated the immunity and faculties of the Assembly. Nevertheless, the power that allows the president to create mixed companies and to grant resources without permission of the Legislative Power persists.
The democratic confrontation
On April 4, one day after the OAS declared that there is a "serious alteration" of democracy in Venezuela, political leaders and students have demonstrated in the streets of Caracas and other areas of the country demanding the powers of the National Assembly and freedom for political prisoners.
Demonstrators have been repressed by security forces by blocking, throwing up tear gas and using red gas to disperse the protests, sparking clashes with hooded youths who responded by throwing stones back at them.
Today the protests have lasted 14 days and, until Tuesday, 3 dead and more than 200 injured were recorded. Gonzalo Himiob, NGO Venezuelan Penal Forum Director, said via Twitter that there were more than 300 arrests, most of them released on bail: 30 with precautionary measures and 15 remain in custody.
The society accuses President Nicolás Maduro of turning his government into a dictatorship. Even governments of America and Europe have spoken in favor of Venezuelan citizenship. However, the president, asked to end the interference on his country.
Likewise, a pro-government rally was on the streets of Caracas last Thursday. While Diosdado Cabello, a pro-government Congressman and the second strong man in Chavismo, told the press that "not even in a bloodshed, there will be change of government in Venezuela." He claimed that the change began 18 years ago with the constitutional victory of Hugo Chávez and that they will remain in power.
The desperate measures of the population
In addition to the demonstrations, looting and disturbances have been reported in various supplies in the interior of the country and the metropolitan area of Caracas. Groups of protesters shot down streetlights, pro-government propaganda fences, and destroyed and burned other assets.
The first Vice President of the National Assembly, Freddy Guevara, published in his Twitter account: "Protesting and defending without weapons is nonviolent resistance. Looting or destroying property, is not: it benefits the dictatorship and harms everyone," urging the opposition not to fall into provocations.
On the other hand, supporters of the government attempted to attack Cardinal Jorge Liberato Urosa, a venezuelan catholic archbishop, during a mass in downtown Caracas. They burst in shouting slogans that generated confusion among the attendants, who had to leave the temple quickly.
The media is in life imprisonment
In 2013, the NGO Reporters Without Borders stated that the Venezuelan media "are almost totally dominated by the government and its mandatory transmission announcements, called chains."
In February 2017, CNN and CNN en Español revealed several irregularities related to the issuance of Venezuelan visas and passports, through its new research series Passports in the Shadows. Where they suggested that the issuance of these documents was linked to persons suspected of engaging in terrorist activities.
In a confidential document, it was revealed that Venezuelan Vice President Tareck El Aissami, was linked to 173 people from Middle Eastern countries, many of them linked to the terrorist group Hezbollah.
As a result of this series of investigations, the government ordered the blocking of CNN en Español's signal, arguing that this decision does not respond to an act of censorship but is due to the violation of Venezuela’s legislation by this news channel. It also removed from the television grid the Mexican channel TV Azteca and the Colombian channel NTN24.
A call for global support
The NGO Un Mundo sin Mordaza convened for today, Saturday, April 15 a global mobilization that seeks the cessation of human rights violations in Venezuela. They demand the immediate conclusion of general elections, the release of political prisoners, the opening of a humanitarian channel and respect for the competencies of the National Assembly of the South American country.
The initiative is supported by the Venezuelan Criminal Forum, Humano Derecho, Venezuelan Women in Action, among other groups. Citizens sympathetic to the situation in Venezuela and, above all, Venezuelans around the world will focus on emblematic sites in the cities where they live in rejection of violence and aggression in Venezuela.
