SPAIN: Thousands rally in Madrid against the Venezuelan presidency of Nicolas Maduro

Record ID: 214185

  • Title: SPAIN: Thousands rally in Madrid against the Venezuelan presidency of Nicolas Maduro
  • Date: 22nd February 2014
  • Summary: VIDEO CONTAINS PROFANE LANGUAGE IN CLOSING SHOT (SHOT #14) MADRID, SPAIN (FEBRUARY 22, 2014) (REUTERS) PAN FROM SPANISH FLAG TO WIDE OF RALLY AT PLAZA COLON AS CROWD CHANTS: 'Leopoldo (Lopez), friend, the people are with you' CROWD SITTING AND CHANTING: 'No, no, i don't want a dictatorship like the one in Cuba' WOMAN HOLDING CANDLE PROTESTER HOLDING SIGN READING: 'Maduro, SOS Venezuela. Give me back the desire to return' (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ANGELIS PENA, PROTESTER, SAYING: : "It hurts me that many times we don't have the resources to be all right here and, right now, we're practically orphans because you tell yourself, 'I'm not okay here but what would I do in Venezuela? Should I submit myself to a dictatorship and take my son to be in a bad situation over there also? That's why I'm here." UP-SHOT OF WOMAN WAVING VENEZUELAN FLAG PAN OF PROTESTERS HOLDING FLAGS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ARMANDO VARGAS, PROTESTER, SAYING: "I think the situation is increasingly grave. When a government silences the media, it's because something is failing within that government." WOMEN WITH TAPE OVER THEIR MOUTHS HOLDING SIGNS THAT READ: 'I want to return to my Venezuela without fear.' WOMAN HOLDING POSTER THAT READS: 'Maduro, you will surely leave' PROTESTERS WITH VENEZUELAN FLAGS PAINTED ON FACES (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) ALEXANDER MARTINEZ, PROTESTER, SAYING: "Well, he's the leader of the country right now. He's the president. And I would say the country is the way it is right now because of him. He is to blame for everything that's going on." PROTESTERS SITTING OBSERVING MOMENT OF SILENCE WITH VENEZUELAN FLAG THAT READS 'SOS' PAN FROM SPANISH FLAG TO BANNER READING: 'Be strong Venezuela. The government may have the bullets, but you have the balls. Get out dictator Maduro, Castro."
  • Embargoed: 9th March 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Spain
  • Country: Spain
  • Topics: Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1CQKIYLAZU5GB328ZWWYRJ485
  • Story Text: Thousands of activists rallied in Madrid on Saturday (February 22) to protest the government of President Nicolas Maduro of Venezuela, where 10 days of political unrest have left at least ten people dead and over 100 injured.
    Waving flags and wearing the national colours of Venezuela, the crowd gathered in Plaza Colon.
    The rally was at least a partial response to a call from jailed protest leader Leopoldo Lopez who urged supporters to keep demonstrating peacefully against Maduro despite violence that has rocked the OPEC member nation.
    'Leopoldo (Lopez), friend, the people are with you,' the crowd chanted before holding a candlelight vigil.
    The violence in Venezuela began on February 12 when three marchers were shot after a peaceful opposition protest in central Caracas degenerated into running battles between riot police and hooded demonstrators.
    The opposition is demanding that the president resign over rampant crime, high inflation, shortages of basic products, and what they see as repression of political opponents.
    Venezuelans living abroad like Angelis Pena said it is hard to live in Spain with its 28% unemployment, but the political situation and crime in her home country gives her pause.
    "It hurts me that many times we don't have the resources to be all right here and, right now, we're practically orphans because you tell yourself, 'I'm not okay here but what would I do in Venezuela? Should I submit myself to a dictatorship and take my son to be in a bad situation over there also? That's why I'm here," she said.
    With television stations that openly encouraged Venezuelans to take to the streets in 2002 and helped trigger the coup that briefly ousted socialist leader Hugo Chavez now offering minimal real-time coverage of nearly a week of anti-government protests, activists cited concern for the lack of press freedom in the South American nation.
    "I think the situation is increasingly grave. When a government silences the media, it's because something is failing within that government," said protester Armando Vargas.
    Maduro scoffs at allegations that his government has restricted free speech, insisting he is simply seeking to prevent the media from causing panic but press freedom groups including Reporters Without Borders have criticized Maduro after he ordered a Colombia-based news channel NTN24 to be removed from cable signal because it broadcast live coverage of violence that started last Wednesday.
    Protester Alexander Martinez said that the former bus driver is unable to govern the nation and resolve the challenges facing the divided nation.
    "Well, he's the leader of the country right now. He's the president. And I would say the country is the way it is right now because of him. He is to blame for everything that's going on," he said.
    Maduro says the protests are a pretext for a planned coup, similar to the short-lived one against his predecessor Hugo Chavez in 2002. However, there have been no indications that the military, which was the decisive factor 12 years ago, would turn on him now.
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