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Opposition forces blame economic problems and crime on leftist President Nicolas Maduro, while Maduro
says the violence is part of a strategy devised by right-wing groups, with the support of the US, to destabilize his government.
"We have a strong democracy. What we don't have in Venezuela is a democratic opposition," Mr Maduro told thousands of his supporters in Caracas.
"There's a world campaign against Venezuela," Maduro said during a news conference on Friday. "It's a campaign to justify an intervention in the domestic affairs of Venezuela."
As Jake Johnston recently commented in CEPR's Americas Blog,
The U.S. government has been funding the Venezuelan opposition for at least 12 years, including, as the State Department has acknowledged, some of the people and organizations involved in the 2002 military coup. Their goal has always been to get rid of the Chavez government and replace it with something more to their liking. However, their funding is probably not their most important contribution in Venezuela, since the Venezuelan opposition has most of the wealth and income of the country. A more important role is the outside pressure for unity, which, as [the WikiLeaks] cables and the history of the past 15 years show, has been a serious problem for the Venezuelan opposition. The cables also show that this is a serious concern for the U.S. government.
The Guardian reported:
Maduro reiterated that the events of the last two weeks are a coup-in-the-making backed by the US and financed by Colombia's ex-president Alvaro Uribe, whom Maduro accuses Lopez of working closely with. The proof of his allegations, he says, "will soon come to light".
But as Venezuelans take to the streets again it is hard to predict whether the march will be the last, or if it will serve to inject new energy into an opposition that has been dispersed over the last couple of nights by National Guard troops firing rubber bullets and teargas and tearing down the camps students set up on street corners.
Reuters reports that
Five people have died from gunshot wounds, beginning on Feb. 12 when two opposition supporters and a pro-government loyalist were shot after a peaceful opposition protest in central Caracas degenerated into running battles between riot police and hooded demonstrators.
Two other people were shot dead at protests around the country in the following days, and a sixth was run over by a car during a melee.
Maduro has called for a national peace conference to be held on Wednesday.
__________________
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |

Opposition forces blame economic problems and crime on leftist President Nicolas Maduro, while Maduro
says the violence is part of a strategy devised by right-wing groups, with the support of the US, to destabilize his government.
"We have a strong democracy. What we don't have in Venezuela is a democratic opposition," Mr Maduro told thousands of his supporters in Caracas.
"There's a world campaign against Venezuela," Maduro said during a news conference on Friday. "It's a campaign to justify an intervention in the domestic affairs of Venezuela."
As Jake Johnston recently commented in CEPR's Americas Blog,
The U.S. government has been funding the Venezuelan opposition for at least 12 years, including, as the State Department has acknowledged, some of the people and organizations involved in the 2002 military coup. Their goal has always been to get rid of the Chavez government and replace it with something more to their liking. However, their funding is probably not their most important contribution in Venezuela, since the Venezuelan opposition has most of the wealth and income of the country. A more important role is the outside pressure for unity, which, as [the WikiLeaks] cables and the history of the past 15 years show, has been a serious problem for the Venezuelan opposition. The cables also show that this is a serious concern for the U.S. government.
The Guardian reported:
Maduro reiterated that the events of the last two weeks are a coup-in-the-making backed by the US and financed by Colombia's ex-president Alvaro Uribe, whom Maduro accuses Lopez of working closely with. The proof of his allegations, he says, "will soon come to light".
But as Venezuelans take to the streets again it is hard to predict whether the march will be the last, or if it will serve to inject new energy into an opposition that has been dispersed over the last couple of nights by National Guard troops firing rubber bullets and teargas and tearing down the camps students set up on street corners.
Reuters reports that
Five people have died from gunshot wounds, beginning on Feb. 12 when two opposition supporters and a pro-government loyalist were shot after a peaceful opposition protest in central Caracas degenerated into running battles between riot police and hooded demonstrators.
Two other people were shot dead at protests around the country in the following days, and a sixth was run over by a car during a melee.
Maduro has called for a national peace conference to be held on Wednesday.
__________________

Opposition forces blame economic problems and crime on leftist President Nicolas Maduro, while Maduro
says the violence is part of a strategy devised by right-wing groups, with the support of the US, to destabilize his government.
"We have a strong democracy. What we don't have in Venezuela is a democratic opposition," Mr Maduro told thousands of his supporters in Caracas.
"There's a world campaign against Venezuela," Maduro said during a news conference on Friday. "It's a campaign to justify an intervention in the domestic affairs of Venezuela."
As Jake Johnston recently commented in CEPR's Americas Blog,
The U.S. government has been funding the Venezuelan opposition for at least 12 years, including, as the State Department has acknowledged, some of the people and organizations involved in the 2002 military coup. Their goal has always been to get rid of the Chavez government and replace it with something more to their liking. However, their funding is probably not their most important contribution in Venezuela, since the Venezuelan opposition has most of the wealth and income of the country. A more important role is the outside pressure for unity, which, as [the WikiLeaks] cables and the history of the past 15 years show, has been a serious problem for the Venezuelan opposition. The cables also show that this is a serious concern for the U.S. government.
The Guardian reported:
Maduro reiterated that the events of the last two weeks are a coup-in-the-making backed by the US and financed by Colombia's ex-president Alvaro Uribe, whom Maduro accuses Lopez of working closely with. The proof of his allegations, he says, "will soon come to light".
But as Venezuelans take to the streets again it is hard to predict whether the march will be the last, or if it will serve to inject new energy into an opposition that has been dispersed over the last couple of nights by National Guard troops firing rubber bullets and teargas and tearing down the camps students set up on street corners.
Reuters reports that
Five people have died from gunshot wounds, beginning on Feb. 12 when two opposition supporters and a pro-government loyalist were shot after a peaceful opposition protest in central Caracas degenerated into running battles between riot police and hooded demonstrators.
Two other people were shot dead at protests around the country in the following days, and a sixth was run over by a car during a melee.
Maduro has called for a national peace conference to be held on Wednesday.
__________________