Venezuela: The Game Changed Last night (some REAL S*** is going down there)

[oarabbus]

Listen and understand. The game changed in Venezuela last night. What had been a slow-motion unravelling that had stretched out over many years went kinetic all of a sudden.

What we have this morning is no longer the Venezuela story you thought you understood.

Throughout last night, panicked people told their stories of state-sponsored paramilitaries on motorcycles roaming middle class neighborhoods, shooting at people and storming into apartment buildings, shooting at anyone who seemed like he might be protesting. People continue to be arrested merely for protesting, and a long established local Human Rights NGO makes an urgent plea for an investigation into widespread reports of torture of detainees. There are now dozens of serious human right abuses: National Guardsmen shooting tear gas canisters directly into residential buildings. We have videos of soldiers shooting civilians on the street. And that’s just what came out in real time, over Twitter and YouTube, before any real investigation is carried out. Online media is next, a city of 645,000 inhabitants has been taken off the internet amid mounting repression, and this blog itself has been the object of a Facebook “block” campaign.

What we saw were not “street clashes”, what we saw is a state-hatched offensive to suppress and terrorize its opponents.

After the major crackdown on the streets of major (and minor) Venezuelan cities last night, I expected some kind of response in the major international news outlets this morning. I understand that with an even bigger and more photogenic freakout ongoing in an even more strategically important country, we weren’t going to be front-page-above-the-fold, but I’m staggered this morning to wake up, scan the press and find…

Nothing.

As of 11 a.m. this morning, the New York Times World Section has…nothing.

See the full article below:
http://caracaschronicles.com/2014/02...ed-last-night/

http://caracaschronicles.com/2014/02/19/19f/

[fiddy]

Any Venezuelan people here?

Any Cubans?

[kNIOKAS]

Yes we need more info. The world needs more info! What is it about?

[ForeverHeat]

Yes we need more info. The world needs more info! What is it about?

Mind yo bidness boi

[Lebowsky]

Any Venezuelan people here?

My gf is from there.

[MightyWhitey]

America should have bombed Venezuela off the face of the Earth when Hugo was still alive. These Latin American countries are ripe with corruption and human rights abuses. Now the worlds police will eventually have get involved somehow because people don't know how to govern themselves.

[outbreak]

America should have bombed Venezuela off the face of the Earth when Hugo was still alive. These Latin American countries are ripe with corruption and human rights abuses. Now the worlds police will eventually have get involved somehow because people don't know how to govern themselves.

because bombing countries without solving their issues really helps doesn't it.....

[Dizzle-2k7]

America should have bombed Venezuela off the face of the Earth when Hugo was still alive. These Latin American countries are ripe with corruption and human rights abuses. Now the worlds police will eventually have get involved somehow because people don't know how to govern themselves.

fukk you , war mongering , assh0le

[oarabbus]

America should have bombed Venezuela off the face of the Earth when Hugo was still alive. These Latin American countries are ripe with corruption and human rights abuses. Now the worlds police will eventually have get involved somehow because people don't know how to govern themselves.

Do you even know our history with Latin American countries? I really hope you do although that statement is stupid anyway.

Idiot.

[Done_And_Done]

Here's a brief clip of said riots

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zvhLYFazp2E

[dr.hee]

America should have bombed Venezuela off the face of the Earth when Hugo was still alive. These Latin American countries are ripe with corruption and human rights abuses. Now the worlds police will eventually have get involved somehow because people don't know how to govern themselves.

[zoom17]

Crazy protests in Ukraine, Venezuela and Thailand.

[KevinNYC]

My guess would be that without Chavez you still have all the repression with none of the cult of personality.


Protestors are leaving these in the streets to protect against the motorcycle thugs.

[KevinNYC]

Slate is saying the new president doesn't enjoy the political support within in his own party that Chavez did.

Maduro isn’t acting like the man with the upper hand. In his remarks Wednesday, he seemed erratic and unsure of himself, which only fuels rumors that he may have diminishing control over the state and its security forces.

...That may be the key difference between Venezuela today and before: For all of the combative rhetoric and venom spewed by Hugo Chavez, the Comandante always kept a lid on widespread repression. The late strongman was expert at verbally provoking and demonizing his opponents, but the threshold for a large-scale crackdown was never crossed. Chavez would unsettle his enemies, entertain half measures, or defuse a situation by simply directing his abuse at a wholly new target. But Maduro has never possessed his predecessor’s confidence, communication, or political canny, and he inherited a government rife with factions. Since his narrow election last April, the fear has been that Chavismo’s odd blend of bravado and insecurity would swing wildly in his hands, especially as the country dire economic conditions worsened. Early Thursday morning, a senior adviser to a Popular Will party leader described the situation as “extremely fluid,” before expressing surprise at Maduro’s decision to ramp up the confrontation. “The government keeps upping the ante,” he said.

Oil prices have been down which has really effected their economy.

[RidonKs]

i was just reading about this after seeing a friend post this video on facebook, which is making serious waves around the web and actually comes straight from the blog (caracaschronicles) cited in the op.

it's worth reading up from as wide a variety of sources you can. too often when people take to the streets, our instinct as secure and insulated westerners is to jump on the side of the people and decry everything about the state. and as usual, whether we're talking about ukraine, venezuela, thailand, or egypt and syria in recent years... that's a mistake. i found some more reasonable accounts at places like human rights watch and amnesty international. the independent and christian science monitor also had more balanced takes. there's a democracynow interview with a professor that comes off as a bit of a maduro/chavez whitewash but nevertheless highlights the nuances of what's happening right now.

the bottom line imo is that students are pissed off, as they should be, because the economy does appear to be in shambles. i don't believe economic policy is strictly to blame but i don't have the background to take a strong stand on that.

a major mistake is to presume supposed "leaders" -- i'm specifically talking about leopoldo lopez now -- are the good guys fighting the big bad commie takeover government (that won substantially in municipal elections not three months ago bear in mind). check into his background. btw, another thought to bear in mind, his party has been supported for years now by the american "civil society funding" initiatives, which is code for foreign electioneering by the NED and its republican (i think) counterpart.

as for lopez' imprisonment, nobody has any idea right now if the charges against him, which range from inciting murder to arson, are backed by any evidence whatsoever. it's worth noting that when he turned himself in, a week after the government issued its warrant (and he wasn't hiding), he was joined by thousands of supporters, and actually given a megaphone to address them before he was taken away.

i think accusations of government repression are overblown. i read the word totalitarian in one article, which is completely disrespectful to the people who actually were forced to live under such a regime. the media takeover is apparently also somewhat distorted in the western media. the colombian station (supposedly one of the few anti-govt stations left) was taken off the airways recently. but as to maduro owning and operating or coercing every media outlet in the country... it's farfetched. heres a publication by jimmy carter's org that details the media as of the presidential election back in april. worth a look.

the maduro government is not responding as it should. he issued a declaration that all violent action against nonviolent protest will be acted upon by his own forced... but police, national armies, and paramilitaries which i know nothing about (and nobody else seems to either) are acting on their own accord. there are realities here on the ground, from the past many years, that need to be addressed. progress has been made since chavez came into power, that much is undeniable, but these students need to get a personal and genuine response from their president. i sincerely hope he brings it. and i sincerely hope they (the protesters) aren't usurped by leaders with ulterior motives that will unquestionably lead to even more dissatisfaction.