CARACAS—Tensions in Venezuela rose again after President Hugo Chavez made a live broadcast on Thursday in which he said that if the protests continue to develop the way they have been over the last couple of days, he will be forced to take radical actions. “Keep doing what you are doing, and you will see what happens,” said the president.
Chavez told Venezuelans that he knows groups of people have been calling active military personnel, and military leaders, and inciting them to rebellion.
Chavez also announced that he ordered the minister for Internal Affairs and Justice, Tareck el Aissami, and the newly appointed Minister of Defense Carlos Mata Figueroa, to take control of regional police forces that refuse to take action against protesters who are trying to block vehicle traffic on the streets.
“If the police forces do not act, we have to take over. I told the Defense minister, ‘You deploy the national guard and take over the police force. If the governor gets upset and sides with the opposition, then he has to go’,” he added.
President Chavez also condemned the Catholic Church’s solidarity with RCTV International, one of the six television stations that was pulled off the air triggering an escalation of the protest movement. Chavez said that the Venezuelan Obispal Conference’s declaration of support shows “a destabilizing attitude.”
The dictator also revealed that early Thursday morning in Mérida, two soldiers were “shot with a machine gun,” one of them suffering grave injuries.
On Jan. 28, the fifth straight day of demonstrations, students at first announced that the protest would begin at the Bryon Plaza in Caracas, but then unexpectedly changed their plan to another location. The decision was an act of prudence in order to avoid “confronting the people against the people” said one of the student leaders, referring to recent incidents in which government supporters showed up exactly where protesters had gathered. “We cannot follow their provocations, we say no to violence,” the student said.
The students, without revealing where they were headed this time, marched until reaching the National Electrical Corporation, Corpoelec. Student leaders managed to speak with the technical vice president, Ernesto Fuentes, regarding the country’s power situation. Chavez announced on Jan. 23 new rationing of electricity and water.
The students also presented a document demanding more investment and the inclusion of university experts and communities in making decisions about electricity rationing.
After leaving the National Electrical Corporation, as the students were shifting locations, they were repelled by police with non-lethal ammunition and tear gas. So far, there have been two deaths and close to 70 people wounded during the week of protests.
International organizations and governments continue to voice their disagreement with the decision to block the six TV channels last Saturday.
Canada denounced the “reduction of democracy” in Venezuela. “Canada is worried for the recent measure taken by the Venezuelan government to suspend the broadcasting of six television channels, and for the deaths of two students during the protests that followed,” declared Peter Kent, the state’s minister of External Affairs for the Americas.
“Freedom of expression and the access to diverse sources of information are fundamental elements for a healthy democracy. Canada exhorts the government of Venezuela to restore immediately the broadcasting of the affected channels,” added Mr. Kent.
Venezuela’s Public Advocate Gabriela Ramirez, said defending the regime, that the international community’s condemnation of closing the TV channels is part of a campaign to discredit Venezuela;s governing institutions.
“This is an international campaign which seeks to generate violence—the murdering of students, that is what will happen,” she added.
Chavez told Venezuelans that he knows groups of people have been calling active military personnel, and military leaders, and inciting them to rebellion.
Chavez also announced that he ordered the minister for Internal Affairs and Justice, Tareck el Aissami, and the newly appointed Minister of Defense Carlos Mata Figueroa, to take control of regional police forces that refuse to take action against protesters who are trying to block vehicle traffic on the streets.
“If the police forces do not act, we have to take over. I told the Defense minister, ‘You deploy the national guard and take over the police force. If the governor gets upset and sides with the opposition, then he has to go’,” he added.
President Chavez also condemned the Catholic Church’s solidarity with RCTV International, one of the six television stations that was pulled off the air triggering an escalation of the protest movement. Chavez said that the Venezuelan Obispal Conference’s declaration of support shows “a destabilizing attitude.”
The dictator also revealed that early Thursday morning in Mérida, two soldiers were “shot with a machine gun,” one of them suffering grave injuries.
On Jan. 28, the fifth straight day of demonstrations, students at first announced that the protest would begin at the Bryon Plaza in Caracas, but then unexpectedly changed their plan to another location. The decision was an act of prudence in order to avoid “confronting the people against the people” said one of the student leaders, referring to recent incidents in which government supporters showed up exactly where protesters had gathered. “We cannot follow their provocations, we say no to violence,” the student said.
The students, without revealing where they were headed this time, marched until reaching the National Electrical Corporation, Corpoelec. Student leaders managed to speak with the technical vice president, Ernesto Fuentes, regarding the country’s power situation. Chavez announced on Jan. 23 new rationing of electricity and water.
The students also presented a document demanding more investment and the inclusion of university experts and communities in making decisions about electricity rationing.
After leaving the National Electrical Corporation, as the students were shifting locations, they were repelled by police with non-lethal ammunition and tear gas. So far, there have been two deaths and close to 70 people wounded during the week of protests.
International organizations and governments continue to voice their disagreement with the decision to block the six TV channels last Saturday.
Canada denounced the “reduction of democracy” in Venezuela. “Canada is worried for the recent measure taken by the Venezuelan government to suspend the broadcasting of six television channels, and for the deaths of two students during the protests that followed,” declared Peter Kent, the state’s minister of External Affairs for the Americas.
“Freedom of expression and the access to diverse sources of information are fundamental elements for a healthy democracy. Canada exhorts the government of Venezuela to restore immediately the broadcasting of the affected channels,” added Mr. Kent.
Venezuela’s Public Advocate Gabriela Ramirez, said defending the regime, that the international community’s condemnation of closing the TV channels is part of a campaign to discredit Venezuela;s governing institutions.
“This is an international campaign which seeks to generate violence—the murdering of students, that is what will happen,” she added.
