Venezuelan violence has roots in obscure incident

By VIVIAN SEQUERA — Feb. 21, 2014 9:30 PM EST You are here Home » Nicolas Maduro » Venezuelan violence has roots in obscure incident Don't miss Gunman kills head of Venezuela opposition party bigstory.ap.org Colombia peace talks eye political participationbigstory.ap.org Nicolas Maduro Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro speaks next to a painting of the late Hugo Chavez, during a news conference at Miraflores Presidential Palace in Caracas, Venezuela, Friday, Feb. 21, 2014. Speaking Friday to international media, Maduro called out what he said was a "campaign of demonization to isolate the Bolivarian revolution." (AP Photo/Fernando Llano) SAN CRISTOBAL, Venezuela (AP) — Major Venezuelan cities have been roiled by violent protests in recent days but the unrest actually began far from the capital with a little-known incident on a college campus in a city that now seems under siege. Just over a week before the coordinated Feb. 12 opposition rallies across the country, students at the University of the Andes in San Cristobal were protesting an attempted rape of a young woman on campus. The students were outraged at the brazen assault on their campus, which underscored long-standing complaints about deteriorating security under President Nicolas Maduro and his predecessor, the late Hugo Chavez. But what really set them off was the harsh police response to their initial protest, in which several students were detained and allegedly abused, as well as follow-up demonstrations to call for their release, according to students and people who live in San Cristobal, a city on Venezuela's remote Andean border. "It was shocking not just to students but to all of San Cristobal," said Gaby Arellano, a 27-year-old student leader who has been involved in the national opposition campaign. "It was the straw that broke the camel's back." The protests expanded and grew more intense, drawing in more non-students angry about the dismal economy and crime in general, which led to more people being detained. Students at other universities decided to march in Caracas, which grew into a nationwide campaign when the prominent opposition leaders decided to get involved. The main rally on Feb. 12 in the capital turned violent, resulting in three deaths from gunshots and then the jailing of opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez. Now, protests that continued throughout the country Friday, and are particularly fierce in San Cristobal, rarely, if ever, mention the attempted rape. "I'm protesting because of the insecurity, for the scarcity and the abuse of power that we have been experiencing," said Maria Garcia, a 30-year-old mother in the Los Agustinos neighborhood of San Cristobal, where patrolling soldiers have strung coils to control protesters who lob rocks and Molotov cocktails. "I'm tired of waiting five or six hours in line for a kilo of flour." Today, as the anti-government movement has snowballed into a political crisis, the likes of which Venezuela's socialist leadership hasn't seen since a 2002 coup attempt, San Cristobal remains a hotbed of unrest. Protest rallies are expected throughout the country on Saturday. The government on Thursday said it would send paratroopers to aid hundreds of soldiers already in place to restore order and the president has said he would consider imposing martial law in the area. Maduro, it should be noted, has a very different version of events in San Cristobal, which is in the western state of Tachira that borders on Colombia. Maduro says the city is under siege by right-wing paramilitaries under orders from former Colombian President Alvaro Uribe, who dismisses the allegation as an attempt by the Venezuelan leader to distract people from an economy beset by shortages of basic goods and inflation of more than 56 percent. Maduro said Friday that San Cristobal Mayor Daniel Ceballos, a member of the same party as Lopez, would soon join the jailed opposition leader behind bars for fomenting violence. "It's a matter of time until we have him in the same cold cell," Maduro said. Residents on Friday tried to resume their normal activities as the smell of burnt trash still lingered. Public transportation has yet to be restored, many stoplights are out and students are gearing up for what they promise will be an extended fight. As warplanes buzz the sky, there is also widespread resentment of the heavy troop presence. "Why is the president sending these troops here? As far as I know, the military is supposed to protect Venezuelans, not attack them," said Jose Hernandez, a 31-year-old construction worker. San Cristobal, a rural city 400 miles (660 kilometers) from Caracas, would seem an unlikely place to be at the center of a national crisis. But with its disproportionately large student population and longstanding cultural and economic ties with its more conservative neighbor, it has long been an opposition stronghold. The state of Tachira, of which San Cristobal is the largest city and capital, was only one of two where opposition candidate Henrique Capriles defeated Hugo Chavez in 2012 presidential elections. Last April, residents of San Cristobal voted nearly 3 to 1 in favor of Capriles in the race against Maduro to elect Chavez's successor. Its independent streak may have to do with its isolation, said Arellano, who grew up in Tachira. "I think people in Tachira have always stood against abuses and being trampled," she said. _____ Associated Press writer Andrew Rosati in Caracas contributed to this report. ================= More protests as Venezuela leader calls for talks with US By Marcelo Daniel Brusa (AFP) – 3 minutes ago Caracas — Opponents of Venezuela's leftist government prepared for a mass protest rally in Caracas Saturday, a day after President Nicolas Maduro issued a surprise call for direct talks with the United States. The risk of violence is high as a march of pro-government "Chavista women" is also scheduled for Saturday in Caracas. Henrique Capriles, governor of Miranda state and the main opposition leader, has called on marchers to focus their demands on disarming pro-government civilian groups blamed for attacking demonstrators. At least nine people have been killed in the past two weeks in the wave of protests shaking the Maduro administration, its biggest test since the death of leftist icon Hugo Chavez last year. At least 137 people have also been injured and 104 have been arrested, according to government figures. Maduro says the protests are part of a "coup d'etat in development" instigated by Washington and conservative ex-Colombian president Alvaro Uribe. Venezuela has the world's largest proven oil reserves, but under Maduro and Chavez the economy has tailspinned, street crime has soared, and corruption has risen. There have been near-daily protests in Caracas as well as cities like San Cristobal, the state capital of Tachira, as well as Valencia, in the north-central state of Carabobo. Maduro's government warned it would cut off gasoline supplies to restless areas. Capriles, who lost last year's presidential election to Maduro by a razor-thin margin, is again in the limelight following the Tuesday arrest of another opposition leader, 42 year-old Leopoldo Lopez, on charges of instigating violence, property damage and criminal association. - Renewed diplomatic ties? - On Friday, Maduro challenged Obama to meet him for talks. "I call a dialogue with you, President Obama... between the patriotic and revolutionary Venezuela and the United States and its government," he said. "Accept the challenge and we will start a high-level dialogue and put the truth on the table," Maduro told a news conference with foreign reporters. Caracas and Washington have not exchanged ambassadors since their respective envoys were withdrawn in 2010. Venezuela has expelled eight US diplomats over the past year, including three on February 16. Oil rich Venezuela's main customer for its key export is the United States, yet Venezuela's relations with the United States, long strained under Chavez, have worsened under Maduro. Maduro, who lashed out at Obama earlier in the week, proposed to restore ties to the ambassadorial level and said he had given his foreign minister "special powers" to handle bilateral dialogue. US Secretary of State John Kerry late Friday chastised Caracas for its crackdown and said nothing about the call for direct talks. "The government's use of force and judicial intimidation against citizens and political figures ... is unacceptable and will only increase the likelihood of violence," Kerry said in a statement. He criticized Venezuela's arrest of protesting students and a key opposition figure, as well as its crackdown on the freedoms of expression and assembly. "This is not how democracies behave," Kerry said. In his statement, Kerry urged the government to release jailed opposition members and launch a "genuine" dialogue. Venezuelan Foreign Minister Elias Jaua said during a visit to Nicaragua on Friday that his government was "open to dialogue" with the opposition, but gave no timeline. Obama earlier called on Venezuela's leftist government to address the "legitimate grievances" of its people -- comments that Maduro dismissed as US meddling in Venezuelan affairs. Washington has also expressed concern over the jailing of Leopoldo Lopez, a Harvard-educated economist, and insisted that any charges against him be handled in an "impartial and transparent" manner. - 'We love the American people' - In a move filled with anti-US sentiment, Maduro has threatened to block US broadcaster CNN, accusing the network of inciting "civil war." CNN said several of its journalists working in Venezuela, on both Spanish-language and English-language programs, had seen their press credentials revoked or refused. On Friday Maduro claimed that the US intelligence services "have given a green light for the overthrow" of the Venezuelan government. Yet at the same press conference Maduro called on Obama to appoint a negotiator for bilateral talks. "What we want is peace with the United States, respect, cooperation," Maduro said. "We love the American people, we admire their culture, their music." Copyright © 2014 AFP. All rights reserved ==============