Protests Continue in Venezuela

Via the BBC:  Venezuela opposition holds anti-Maduro rally in Caracas

Thousands of Venezuelan students and opposition supporters have joined an anti-government rally in the capital, Caracas.

The government deployed hundreds of government security forces to prevent a crowd banging pots and pans from marching towards the food ministry.

There were similar marches in at least five other Venezuelan cities.

In eastern Caracas, police fired tear gas against protesters trying to erect barricades in the streets.

For a month, demonstrators have been complaining about the high levels of violence and shortages of food staples like bread, sugar, milk and butter.

The following photo from Reuters via the BBC is illustrative:

Anti-government protesters in Caracas

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Steven L. Taylor
About Steven L. Taylor
Steven L. Taylor is a Professor of Political Science and a College of Arts and Sciences Dean. His main areas of expertise include parties, elections, and the institutional design of democracies. His most recent book is the co-authored A Different Democracy: American Government in a 31-Country Perspective. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Texas and his BA from the University of California, Irvine. He has been blogging since 2003 (originally at the now defunct Poliblog). Follow Steven on Twitter

Comments

  1. Dave Schuler says:

    Two questions, Steven. First, how long can the Venezuelan government hold out like this? Second, what’s the end game?

  2. bill says:

    @Dave Schuler: 3rd- why isn’t the American media following it? I’m glad Steven cares enough to write about it but there’s just not much concern from our media.

  3. Neil Hudelson says:

    @bill:

    Yeah the complete lack of interest has been surprising.

  4. Just Another Ex-Republican says:

    Hardly surprising at all. The Ukraine situation pushes a lot more buttons in our short attention span, inward-focused society.

  5. @Dave Schuler: I started to answer this yesterday and then got sidetracked.

    The honest answer is that I do not have a good answer. It would seem that the security apparatus and the majority of the population support the regime and that the opposition lacks cohesion. This would seem to suggest that this situation can go on as it is for some time.