US-VENEZUELA/BRAZIL-SENATORS Brazil senators say bus attacked on Venezuela visit to prisoners

Record ID: 151827

  • Title: US-VENEZUELA/BRAZIL-SENATORS Brazil senators say bus attacked on Venezuela visit to prisoners
  • Date: 19th June 2015
  • Summary: VARGAS, VENEZUELA (JUNE 18, 2015) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** VARIOUS BRAZILIAN SENATORS ACCOMPANYING LILIAN TINTORI, WIFE OF JAILED VENEZUELAN POLITICIAN LEOPOLDO LOPEZ AMID PRESS GAGGLE BUS IN WHICH SENATORS TRAVELLED VARIOUS OF SENATORS ALONG HIGHWAY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) BRAZILIAN SENATOR, AECIO NEVES, SAYING: "They stopped us from completing
  • Embargoed: 4th July 2015 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA68K0WA8CAB3P9WL8RHMRNWLNG
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: Brazilian senators seeking to visit jailed opposition leaders in Venezuela said their minibus was stoned and blocked, forcing them to return to the airport on Thursday (June 18). Brazil's foreign ministry condemned the incident.
    The group of opposition senators had planned to drive from the coastal airport to the capital Caracas and then on to a military jail where hardline opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez has been for more than a year.
    Another senator, former presidential candidate Aecio Neves, spoke to reporters about their disappointment.
    "They stopped us from completing this mission, a peace mission, a democratic mission in search of what all the democrats throughout the world seek, the liberation of political prisoners, clarity for election date. We were simply halted from getting through to visit Leopoldo, to meet with leaders of the political opposition. And they did even worse than what the group of government supporters did. I don't know why they did this, damaging our car, putting us senators at risk," he said.
    Brazil's Foreign Ministry condemned the incident and said it would go through diplomatic channels to seek an explanation.
    There was no comment from Venezuelan officials.
    Foreign support for opposition leaders is a sensitive issue for the government of President Nicolas Maduro, who views them as U.S.-backed agitators intent on fomenting a coup against him to end 16 years of socialism in Venezuela.
    Lopez, 44, who has been on a partial hunger-strike for 25 days, was accused last year of stirring up violence around anti-government protests that killed more than 40 people, on both sides of the political divide. His wife Lilian Tintori was with the Brazilian senators.
    Some former Latin American presidents have been blocked from visiting Lopez at the Ramo Verde military jail.
    With long delays on routes to Caracas from the airport, opposition leader Maria Corina Machado said the government had deliberately created obstacles including cleaning work in tunnels.
    Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and her Workers' Party have faced increasing criticism for maintaining close ties to Maduro.
    Brazil's Senate passed a motion condemning the episode and some members called for punitive measures against Venezuela such as its suspension from regional bloc Mercosur, the tearing up of bilateral trade pacts and the recall of Brazil's ambassador.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register