Venezuelan Capital Sees Rise in Violent Street Bands Following Opposition Withdrawal from Peace Talk

Venezuelan Capital Sees Rise in Violent Street Bands Following Opposition Withdrawal from Peace Talks
By Arlene Eisen

Caracas, 14th May 2014 (Venezuelanalysis.com) – On Wednesday early afternoon, bands of right-wing protestors attacked the Ministry of Tourism with incendiary devices, rocks and homemade fragmentation grenades. Hours later, police arrested some 80 rock and explosive-throwers who tried to re-erect barricades in the wealthy Altamira district. This was the second day of clashes between rock throwers and the National Guard in the neighborhood.

The rekindling of street violence follows a widely publicized press conference held by the leadership of the Democratic Unity Table (MUD), where the opposition coalition announced their withdrawal from the dialogue talks initiated by the government of President Nicolas Maduro. Further, by the end of last week, both houses of the U.S. Congress appeared poised pass economic sanctions and increased financial support by the U.S. government to the Venezuelan opposition.

The street clashes resulted in the shutdown of three vital metro stations and various stores in affected neighborhoods. A number of local residents expressed to Venezuelanalysis.com their frustration and anger at the continued disruption of their lives by “the students and National Guard.”

The opposition mayor of Chacao, the municipality that includes Altamira, added his voice to the mounting alienation of the right-wing youth. “The protests have become vandalism, there is nothing civic about them. They cause chaos in the neighborhood.” And in response to the second attack on the Ministry of Tourism, the government’s tourism minister, Andres Izarra, reiterated, “This is not a civic protest, it is violet fascist protest whose objective is to destroy state institutions.”

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http://venezuelanalysis.com/news/10683