In Venezuela, mass protests women

Women of all ages, backgrounds and socio-economic backgrounds gathered in the Venezuelan capital city ready to march and send a message.

The death toll from the recent unrest has reportedly reached 37 as of Friday as the government announced that a 33-year-old college student was shot dead by an unidentified assailant who fled by a motorbike during a student rioting in the city of El Tigre on Thursday. Looting also broke out in Valencia. Demonstrators are demanding elections and the release of more than 100 political prisoners, and blame the country’s woes on corruption and mismanagement by the Maduro government.

“The Republic must defend itself from terrorism”, he added, joining supporters in a rally downtown after presenting his plans to the national election board, which backed the move.

Yet, Venezuela’s defence minister later denied that any military officers had been detained.

Finally, he said that tomorrow, representatives of the coalition Mesa de la Unidad Democratica and other groups of the opposition will be welcomed by the Presidential Commission at the Salon Ayacucho in the Miraflores Palace (headquarters of the Government).

Highlighting vandalism and violence by young masked protesters, Maduro says opponents are seeking a coup with US support and harbor “terrorists” and “murderers” in their ranks.

Tintori is also helping spearhead a women’s march against Maduro on Saturday, setting up what threatens to be another confrontation between demonstrators and security forces – prologue, perhaps, to yet another week of tumult.

As they marched, local media carried a video showing people toppling a statue of the late President Hugo Chavez the day before in the western state of Zulia.

A crowd of thousands, led by opposition leaders and the wife of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, marched through Caracas singing the national anthem and shouting slogans like “We want elections!”

The United States, which had remained relatively quiet over the situation in Venezuela, is now taking a stronger tone against Maduro’s “violent crackdown on protestors”.

United States Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley issued a statement on Saturday about the situation in Venezuela, saying the USA government was “deeply concerned” about Maduro’s use of force. “We are particularly concerned that the government is failing to provide basic food and medical needs to the Venezuelan people”, Haley said.

Despite the devastating and murderous war being waged on the people of Yemen by Saudi Arabia, Washington is working to ram through contracts for tens of billions of dollars in weapons for the despotic monarchy ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trip to the kingdom this month, Reuters reports.