2014 Venezuelan Protests

In 2014, a series of protests, political demonstrations, and civil insurrection began in Venezuela due to the country's high levels of urban violence, inflation, and chronic shortages of basic goods attributed to economic policies such as strict price controls. Mass protesting began in earnest in February following the attempted rape of a student on a university campus in San Cristóbal. Subsequent arrests and killings of student protesters spurred their expansion to neighboring cities and the involvement of opposition leaders. The year's early months were characterized by large demonstrations and violent clashes between protesters and government forces that resulted in nearly 4,000 arrests and 43 deaths, including both supporters and opponents of the government.

Background

Since Hugo Chávez was elected President of Venezuela in 1998, he and his political ambitions proved to be controversial.

Under Chávez, oil revenues in the 2000s brought funds not seen in Venezuela since the 1980s, with Chávez's government becoming "semi-authoritarian and hyper-populist", investing heavily in public works which initially benefited Venezuelans. His government failed to save funds earned while oil prices were high and soon after his death, Venezuela's economy became dilapidated. Also under Chávez's tenure, corruption in Venezuela, as well as crime in Venezuela, had greatly increased, causing more frustration among Venezuelans.

Frustrations were seen in the polls when during the 2013 Venezuelan presidential election, Nicolas Maduro narrowly won the election with 50.6% of the vote, ahead of the 49.1% of candidate Henrique Capriles Radonski, surprisingly close compared to previous elections in the country. The opposition's defeat in the 8 December 2013 municipal elections, which it had framed as a 'plebiscite' on Maduro's presidency, would later ignite an internal debate over strategy. Moderate opposition leaders Henrique Capriles and Henri Falcón argued for 'unity' and dialogue with the government, and attended meetings held by the President to discuss cooperation among the country's mayors and governors. Other opposition leaders, such as Leopoldo López and Marina Corina Machado, opposed dialogue and called for a new strategy to force an immediate change in the government.

Timeline

According to the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict (OVCS), 9,286 protests occurred in 2014, the greatest number of protests occurring in Venezuela in decades. The majority of protests, 6,369 demonstrations, occurred during the first six months of 2014 with an average of 35 protests per day. SVCO estimated that 445 protests occurred in January; 2,248 in February; 1,423 in March; 1,131 in April; 633 in May; and 489 in June. The main reason of protest was against President Maduro and the Venezuelan government with 52% of demonstrations and the remaining 42% of protests were due to other difficulties such as labor, utilities, insecurity, education and shortages. Most protesting began in the first week of February, reaching peak numbers in the middle of that month following the call of students and opposition leaders to protest. The number of protests then declined into mid-2014 only to increase slightly in late 2014 into 2015 following the drop in the price of oil and due to the shortages in Venezuela.

Growing unrest

Demonstrations against violence in Venezuela began in January 2014 following the murder of actress and former Miss Venezuela Mónica Spear, and continued, when former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles shook the hand of President Maduro; this "gesture... cost him support and helped propel" opposition leader Leopoldo López Mendoza to the forefront.

According to the Associated Press, well before protests began in the Venezuelan capital city of Caracas, the attempted rape of a young student on a university campus in San Cristóbal, in the western border state of Táchira, led to protests from students "outraged" at "long-standing complaints about deteriorating security under President Nicolas Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chávez. But what really set them off was the harsh police response to their initial protest, in which several students were detained and allegedly abused, as well as follow-up demonstrations to call for their release". These protests expanded, attracted non-students, and led to more detentions; eventually, other students joined, and the protests spread to Caracas and other cities, with opposition leaders becoming involved.

Leopoldo López, a leading figure in the opposition to the government, began to lead protests. During events surrounding the 2002 Venezuelan coup d'état attempt, Lopez "orchestrated the public protests against Chávez and he played a central role in the citizen's arrest of Chavez's interior minister", Ramón Rodríguez Chacín, though he later tried to distance himself from the event, López, alongside María Corina Machado launch a campaign on 23 January 2014 to remove Maduro from office, named ''La Salida'' (The Exit), with an intent to have President Maduro resign through protests with Machado publicly stating “We must create chaos in the streets through responsible civic struggle”.

Mass demonstrations

On 1 February, López called upon students to protest peacefully against the scarcity, insecurity, and shortages. The next day, opposition leaders call for a march on 12 February in recognition of National Youth Day.

On 12 February, major opposition protests began with student marches led by opposition leaders in 38 cities across Venezuela simultaneous with the national celebrations for the bicentennial year anniversary of Youth Day and the Battle of La Victoria. After the protests, smaller groups remained and threw stones at government forces. The protests turned more violent after government security forces used excessive force on protesters and shot at groups of unarmed people. Bassil Da Costa was the first protester to die after getting a bullet to the head. Later that day, another protester, Robert Reddman, and a pro-government activist were also killed in Caracas. President Maduro blamed "fascist" groups for the deaths caused that day, including opposition leader Leopoldo López, during his closing address in the Youth Day parade that evening in La Victoria, Aragua state.

The next day on 13 February following the death of a colectivo member Juan "Juancho" Montoya, members of colectivos "went on television to call for calm and called for the arrest of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. Judge Ralenys Tovar Guillén accepts the Public Ministry's petition to detain Leopoldo López in connection with the unrest that resulted in the death of the colectivo leader and two students.

Leopoldo López delivers a speech on 18 February in Plaza Brión where he pointed out that its necessary to build "a peaceful exit, inside the constitution but in the streets" and assured that "there isn't free media anymore to express themselves and if the media stays silent they must go to the streets". He declared that "if his imprisonment allows Venezuela to wake up definitely and for the Venezuelans that want a change, his imprisonment will be worth it." He turned himself to the National Guard at 12:24 P.M., Venezuelan time, and said he was turning himself to a "corrupt justice". After Lopez turned himself in, the opposition protesters blocked the Francisco Fajardo Highway.

Miss Tourism Venezuela Génesis Carmona is killed by colectivo gunfire on 19 February after being shot in the head while supporting an opposition protest. MUD leader Henrique Capriles breaks his silence and confronts Francisco Ameliach, government officials and denounced the violence the government was using on the protesters.

On 23 February, about 30 military units arrived at the residence of retired brigadier general Ángel Vivas to arrest him. According to CBC, Vivas "rose to prominence in 2007 when he resigned as head of the Defence Ministry's engineering department rather than order his subalterns to swear to the Cuban-inspired oath 'Socialist Fatherland or death'." Vivas reported that "Cubans and thugs" were attacking his house and moments later appeared atop the roof of his house wearing a flak jacket along with an assault rifle saying "Come find me Maduro!". National Guardsmen made a barricade in front of Vivas' house but neighbors and supporters defended Vivas by placing a barricade of vehicles in front of the troops. The troops retreated without arresting Vivas after the citizens refused to leave the area. Vivas later explained why he thought Venezuelans needed to defend the country from foreigners, saying "Cubans are in all structures of the Venezuelan state" and also explained that he told protesters to set up barricades in order to defend themselves against attacks from the National Guard.

On 29 February, Sukhoi fighter jets of the Venezuelan Air Force were seen flying over San Cristóbal, Táchira, Venezuela on 20 February and President Nicolás Maduro ordered paratroopers of the 41st Airborne Brigade, 4th Armored Division, Venezuelan Army on standby on recommendations from the Minister of Interior and Justice, Lieutenant General Miguel Rodríguez Torres.

Protest violence

"Colectivos"

In March 2014, paramilitary groups acted violently in 437 protests, about 31% of total protests in March, where gunshot wounds were reported in most protests they were involved in. According to a correspondent from Televen, armed groups attempted to kidnap and rape individuals in an apartment complex in Maracaibo on 27 March without intervention from the National Guard.

On 16 April, colectivos in several trucks allegedly attacked an apartment complex known for protesting damaging 5 vehicles, leaving 2 burnt, and fired several shots into the apartments leaving one person injured from a gunshot wound.

In early-May, armed colectivos allegedly attacked and burnt down Universidad Fermín Toro after intimidating student protesters and shooting one.

Government forces

Use of firearms

''El Nacional'' claimed that the objective of those attacking opposition protesters is to kill since many of the protesters that were killed were shot in vulnerable areas like the head and that, "9 of the 15 dead people were from the 12F demonstrators, who were injured by state security forces or paramilitaries linked to the ruling party." '' El Universal'' has claimed that Melvin Collazos of SEBIN, and Jonathan Rodríquez, a bodyguard of the Minister of the Interior and Justice Miguel Rodríguez Torres, are in custody after shooting unarmed, fleeing, protesters several times in violation of protocol.

Use of chemical agents

Some violent demonstrations have been controlled with tear gas and water cannons.

Some mysterious chemical agents were used in Venezuela as well. On 20 March 2014, the appearance of "red gas" first occurred when it was used in San Cristóbal against protesters, with reports that it was CN gas. The first reported use of "green gas" was on 15 February 2014 against demonstrations in Altamira. On 25 April 2014, "green gas" was reportedly used again on protesters in Mérida. Venezuelan-American Ricardo Hausmann, director of the Center for International Development at Harvard made statements that this gas caused protesters to vomit. Some reported that the chemical used was adamsite, a yellow-green arsenical chemical weapon that can cause respiratory distress, nausea and vomiting.

In April 2014, Amnesty International worried about "the use of chemical toxins in high concentrations” by government forces and recommended better training for them. During the months of protest in 2014, the heavy use of tear gas by authorities in Chacao affected surrounding residents and forced them to wear gas masks to "survive" in their homes. Regional human rights groups also denounced the usage of "green gas", stating that its usage is "internationally banned".

A study by Mónica Kräuter, a chemist and professor, involved the collection of thousands of tear gas canisters fired by Venezuelan authorities in 2014. She stated that the majority of canisters used the main component CS gas, supplied by Cóndor of Brazil, which meets Geneva Convention requirements. However, 72% of the tear gas used was expired and other canisters produced in Venezuela by Cavim did not show adequate labels or expiration dates. Following the expiration of tear gas, Krauter notes that it "breaks down into cyanide oxide, phosgenes and nitrogens that are extremely dangerous".

Arbitrary detentions

Multiple NGOs reported mass arbitrary detentions of demonstrators, political activists and key figures that were targeted. During the period between 12 February and 31 May 2014, the human rights NGO Foro Penal verified 3,127 arbitrary detentions. Many of the detentions were carried out by SEBIN agents, who targeted political activists that later became Deputies before the National Assembly, like Rosmit Mantilla

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