VENEZUELA: Opposition leader Henrique Capriles accuses the government of stoking violence and confrontation

Record ID: 567072

  • Title: VENEZUELA: Opposition leader Henrique Capriles accuses the government of stoking violence and confrontation
  • Date: 20th February 2014
  • Summary: CARACAS, VENEZUELA (FEBRUARY 20, 2014) (REUTERS) VENEZUELA'S MAIN OPPOSITION LEADER, HENRIQUE CAPRILES, DURING NEWS CONFERENCE MEDIA DURING NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF CAPRILES DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VENEZUELA'S MAIN OPPOSITION LEADER, HENRIQUE CAPRILES, SAYING: "You took Leopoldo Lopez prisoner in hopes of keeping the country in a climate of confrontation. If you wanted peace and tranquility and to defuse anger, arresting Leopoldo Lopez was not the way to go about it." REPORTERS LISTENING TO CAPRILES REPORTER TAKING NOTES (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VENEZUELA'S MAIN OPPOSITION LEADER, HENRIQUE CAPRILES, SAYING: "The government speaks of a coup, but I ask: 'Is it really a coup or an auto coup?' Which one is it? Because if there is a coup in the making, you Mr. Nicolas Maduro, have to present proof of this coup to the country." CAPRILES DURING NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) VENEZUELA'S MAIN OPPOSITION LEADER, HENRIQUE CAPRILES, SAYING: "I disagree with violence, we reject violence but we see there is a lot of interest on behalf of the government to continue with the violence." REPORTERS DURING NEWS CONFERENCE CAPRILES AFTER NEWS CONFERENCE VARIOUS OF PEOPLE BLOCKING STREET LINE OF VEHICLES PEOPLE SHOUTING SLOGANS ON LOAD SPEAKERS (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) CARACAS RESIDENT, JUAN CARLOS GARCIA, SAYING: "We are protesting peacefully in the vicinity of Campo Bello in the Chacao municipality, carrying out a peaceful demonstration, because we believe we are living in a dictatorship. Yesterday we were victims of abuse by the Bolivarian National Police and the National Guard at the same time. They opened fire against buildings. That is immoral and is something that goes against human rights." WOMEN BANGING POTS AND PANS VENEZUELAN FLAG MAN WAVING VENEZUELAN FLAG PEOPLE BLOCKING STREET
  • Embargoed: 7th March 2014 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of
  • Country: Venezuela
  • Topics: Conflict,Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6OPNXUCMIFXLNSVATOO53RP4
  • Story Text: Amid simmering protests in Venezuela, opposition figurehead Henrique Capriles on Thursday (February 20) said the government's move to arrest Leopoldo Lopez was designed to maintain an atmosphere of confrontation.
    At least five people have died since the unrest turned violent last week, with scores of injuries and arrests.
    "You took Leopoldo Lopez prisoner in hopes of keeping the country in a climate of confrontation. If you wanted peace and tranquility and to defuse anger, arresting Leopoldo Lopez was not the way to go about it," Capriles told a Caracas news conference.
    Venezuelan security forces and demonstrators faced off in streets blocked by burning barricades in several provincial cities as protests escalated against President Nicolas Maduro's socialist government.
    The demonstrators, mostly students, blame the government for violent crime, high inflation, product shortages and alleged repression of opponents. They want Maduro to resign.
    Tensions have escalated since opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, a 42-year-old Harvard-educated economist, turned himself in to troops this week. He is being held in Caracas' Ramo Verde jail on charges of fomenting the violence.
    Maduro, narrowly elected last year to succeed socialist leader Hugo Chavez after his death from cancer, says Lopez and others are in league with the U.S. government and want a coup.
    "The government speaks of a coup, but I ask: 'Is it really a coup or an auto coup?' Which one is it? Because if there is a coup in the making, you Mr. Nicolas Maduro, have to present proof of this coup to the country," Capriles said.
    Maduro says "fascist groups" are trying to create a crisis to topple his administration.
    Capriles, who was narrowly beaten by Maduro in last year's presidential election, disagrees with Lopez's street tactics but backs protesters' grievances and has condemned the government response.
    "I disagree with violence, we reject violence but we see there is a lot of interest on behalf of the government to continue with the violence."
    As sporadic protests continued, one demonstrator said the Maduro government had become a "dictatorship".
    "We are protesting peacefully in the vicinity of Campo Bello in the Chacao municipality, carrying out a peaceful demonstration, because we believe we are living in a dictatorship. Yesterday we were victims of abuse by the Bolivarian National Police and the National Guard at the same time. They opened fire against buildings. That is immoral and is something that goes against human rights."
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