Lawmakers from Venezuela's opposition have denounced government security forces for using excessive force during a raid on an apartment complex in the capital. Nearly two dozen people were arrested in the raid.
Image: Reuters/I. Alvarado
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Opposition lawmakers in Venezuela on Wednesday slammed the actions of security forces during a raid on an apartment complex in the country's capital allegedly used by anti-government militants.
Video footage published online showed an armored truck smash through the gates of the middle-class complex in Caracas before police allegedly fired weapons, destroyed elevators and broke doors and windows.
Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said that 23 people were arrested in the raid. The suspects are alleged to have been involved in attacks on security forces in recent weeks, as political upheaval and violence has rumbled on in Venezuela.
"These subjects were involved in violent acts in which several officials were injured by gunfire," Reverol said.
However, witnesses at the Los Verdes complex reported that security forces had smashed dozens of car windows and broken at least 12 elevators inside the complex, which houses some 4,500 people. One resident even said that police had shot her dog in the eye.
Venezuela's opposition said the raids amounted to "state terrorism," while one opposition lawmaker described the security forces as "mafia criminals armed by the government."
Police reportedly smashed car windowsImage: Reuters/I. Alvarado
The Los Verdes complex where the raid took place has been the scene of near nightly clashes since anti-government protests broke out two months ago.
Widespread turmoil
Venezuela has been in a state of political upheaval since the beginning of April. Anti-government protesters blame President Nicolas Maduro for the oil-rich country's soaring inflation, food and medicine shortages, and rising crime rates.
Maduro and his supporters, in their turn, have accused protesters of attempting to foment a coup beneath pro-democracy rhetoric.
The president has plans to hold elections for the National Assembly on July 30 in a bid to revamp the country's constitution. Critics are determined to stop the vote, alleging that the elections are merely an attempt by Maduro to shape the assembly in his favor and ultimately dissolve the opposition-controlled body.
At least 68 people have died since Venezuela descended into political chaos - a rate of roughly one death per day.
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."
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson told the House Foreign Affairs Committee that his office was working in cooperation with the US Treasury Department on compiling "a very robust list of individuals" accused of aggravating the violent protests.
Tillerson declined to reveal the names of the officials on the list.
