More than 20 people have been
injured and 39 detained during
anti-government protests in
Venezuela, a local rights group
has said.
Images circulated on social
media of injured people on the
ground. There are reports at
least three were shot.
Hundreds of thousands of
people took to the streets to
protest against President
Nicolas Maduro’s government.
It came after a recall
referendum process – an
attempt to remove Maduro
from power- was suspended.
Opposition activists had
gathered about 200,000
signatures petitioning for a
recall referendum.
But the process was halted last
week. Officials said the
signature collection process has
been marred by fraud.
The country’s opposition-led
parliament voted on Tuesday to
open a trial against Maduro,
whom MPs accuse of violating
the constitution.
Protesters clashed with security
forces across the country,
particularly in the western
cities of San Cristobal and
Maracaibo.
“The referendum was our
constitutional right, and they
have denied it. What are they
scared of?” said Grimaldi Lopez
at the rally in the capital,
Caracas.
Using the hashtag
#TomadeVenezuela or
“Venezuela takeover”, people
shared images of injured and
bloodied protesters.
Alfredo Romero, leader of a
human rights NGO, tweeted a
picture of an injured 79-year-
old woman, and said more than
20 people had been injured in
the city of Merida alone.
Maduro addressed a rival rally
of supporters in Caracas,
saying: “Let the people decide.”
Opposition leaders have called
for a mass walk-out on Friday.
After the general strike, if the
government continues to block
the recall referendum process,
the opposition threatened to
march on the presidential
palace – something it has not
been allowed to do since a
march there in 2002 started a
short-lived coup against the
former president, Hugo Chavez.
Maduro, a former bus driver
and union leader, is blamed by
the opposition for Venezuela’s
dire economic situation. The oil-
rich country is facing
widespread food shortages and
spiralling inflation, reports the
BBC.
In turn, he has accused the
opposition of having links to
foreign states, the US in
particular, and of seeking to
overthrow him to “lay their
hands on Venezuela’s oil
riches”.
Under Venezuela’s constitution,
a recall referendum can be held
once a president has served half
of his term in office and the
requisite steps are met.
So far, the opposition has
completed the first step of the
process.
