Death toll rises as protests continue in Venezuela
May 22, 2017
A young demonstrator has died of gunshot wounds during ongoing anti-Maduro rallies across Venezuela, bringing the death toll to 48 as demonstrations enter their eighth week.
Image: Getty Images/AFP/F. Parra
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During Sunday's rally in the western city of Valera, gunmen reportedly fired at demonstrators and hit several people, including an 18-year-old male and a 50-year-old woman.
"At that moment, [Edy Alejandro] Teran Aguilar received a bullet in the chest," the attorney general's office said in a statement. The 23-year-old was pronounced dead upon arrival at a local hospital.
The mayor of a municipality in the eastern part of the capital, Caracas, said 46 people were injured in protests on Saturday. In the Caracas suburb of San Antonio Los Altos a youth was wounded by gunfire, according to the opposition governor of the state of Miranda.
Protesters struggled with tear gas in clashes with riot police during a protest in CaracasImage: Getty Images/AFP/F. Parra
Since the protests began on April 1, hundreds have been injured and 2,200 have been detained. Of those arrested, 161 have been jailed on the order of military courts, according to Foro Penal, a non-governmental monitor.
Venezuela's opposition have blamed President Nicolas Maduro for the country's wrecked economy that has led to dire shortages of the most basic of goods.
Authorities blocked an opposition push for a referendum in 2016, delayed state elections and are resisting calls to bring forward the next presidential election scheduled for late 2019.
Some 17 opposition parties have agreed to discuss the terms of a national dialogue with the government, although right-wing groups aligned with the Democratic Unity alliance have refused to cooperate.
Protests paralyze Venezuela's society
DW talked to Venezuelan journalist and photographer Ivan Reyes whose images highlight the stories of the people marching against the government.
Image: Ivan Reyes
Journalism born of need
"I’d been working as a journalist for a year when the protests started in 2014. Many independent media have come into existence in the last two years due to the government censorship, and that's how I became a reporter," Ivan Reyes told DW. He started capturing the new wave of riots on a daily basis at the end of March.
Image: Ivan Reyes
Welcome to the stone age
The ruling by the Supreme Tribunal of Justice, which took away immunity from opposition parliamentarians, set off a surge of protests paralyzing the country. Although the protests were peaceful at first, government forces soon started throwing stones into the crowds. "Seriously, the police were given stones! This man, Lino Rivera, was hit by one on April 4," Reyes said.
Image: Ivan Reyes
Highway to hell
The marches take place all over Caracas every day, but they usually end on the city highways. This photo shows two officers of the national guard shooting tear gas grenades into the lines of protesters. "The projectiles should be shot above people’s heads - so the international laws says," says Reyes. "But the armed forces shoot straight into the demonstrators."
Image: Ivan Reyes
"We are all Juan"
Juan Pablo Pernalete, 20, died after being hit by a projectile on April 26. The death of the student of Universidad Metropolitana triggered angry protests in the following days. "People were chanting 'Todos somos Juan! Todos somos Juan!'" ("We are all Juan") Reyes told DW. Congressmen Miguel Pizarro and Carlos Paparoni and the Governor of Miranda Henrique Capriles all came to pay tribute.
Image: Ivan Reyes
Evasive action
Defense has become the key element for survival. "The people seem to be organized better every day," says Reyes. Against the wishes of the protest leaders, several groups have started using DIY weapons and even Molotov cocktails against the government forces, as seen in this photo. "It’s a battle they can’t win," says Reyes.
Image: Ivan Reyes
Heros of the day
"Jesús was one of those injured in the demonstrations on May 4. He was gasping and stuttering after he got hit in the head. People in the crowd spotted him and carried him to one side where paramedics gave him first aid. The members of Primeros Auxilios UCV are the real heroes of history," Reyes said of the group of doctors who go to the protests every day to help the injured.
Image: Ivan Reyes
The wrath of the women scorned
On May 6, a women’s protest against the regime was organized by Mesa de la Unidad Democrática, Venezuela's opposition party. The march wasn’t allowed to reach its destination, the Ministry of Justice, as they were halted by female officers of the national police. Former politician María Corina Machado and the student president of Universidad Central de Venezuela were among the protesters.
Image: Ivan Reyes
Ode to Venezuela
This image shot by Reyes went viral right after it was published by the author on May 8. The picture is one of the strongest snapshots from the Venezuelan protests, showing a young man walking down a road playing the Venezuelan anthem. "I don’t see the protests ending soon," said Reyes. "Let’s see which side gets tired first."
Image: Ivan Reyes
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Public burning
President Maduro slammed opposition protesters on Sunday for setting a man on fire during a demonstration.
"A person was set on fire, beaten up, stabbed... They nearly lynched him, just because he shouted out that he was a 'Chavista,'" Maduro said - referring to the ruling socialist movement created by his predecessor, Hugo Chavez.
About 100 people participating in anti-Maduro protests in east Caracas reportedly surrounded the man, doused him in gasoline and set him alight, witnesses told the news agency Reuters.
"Burning a person because he seems a Chavista is a hate crime and a crime against humanity," Maduro said in his weekly TV broadcast.
"Growing insanity. A human being is set on fire at a 'peaceful demonstration' by the opposition in Caracas," Venezuelan Information Minister Ernesto Villegas said on Twitter, posting a video of the incident.
The prosecutor's office said it had opened an investigation.
Paranoia rules
Maduro believes protesters are plotting a coup against him with US help and are increasingly persecuting "Chavistas" at home and abroad. Last week, he compared the situation to the Nazi treatment of Jews.
"Venezuela is facing [...] a coup movement that has turned into hatred and intolerance, very similar to Nazi fascism," he reiterated on Sunday.
Maduro blamed "the leaders of groups of mercenaries" for the violence and said several of them were already in prison.
US President Donald Trump, Maduro said last week, has his hands "deeply penetrated in this conspiracy, which aims to take political control of Venezuela."
