- Title: Political effigies go up in flames in Venezuelan Easter celebrations
- Date: 17th April 2017
- Summary: CARACAS, VENEZUELA (APRIL 16, 2017) (REUTERS) PEOPLE POURING FLAMMABLE LIQUID ON AN EFFIGY OF VENEZUELAN PRESIDENT, NICOLAS MADURO THE EFFIGY OF MADURO CLOSE-UP OF AN IMAGE OF FORMER PRESIDENT, HUGO CHAVEZ, ON THE MADURO EFFIGY'S SHIRT MAN PREPARING TO SET MADURO EFFIGY ON FIRE VARIOUS OF EFFIGY ENGULFED IN FLAMES PEOPLE LOOKING AT BURNING EFFIGY FROM A CAR PEOPLE GATHERED AROUND A BURNING EFFIGY OF MADURO ON A BUSY STREET OPPOSITION SUPPORTER, MARIA PILAR, HOLDING UP AN EFFIGY OF NICOLAS MADURO CLOSE-UP OF MADURO'S FACE ON THE EFFIGY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) OPPOSITION SUPPORTER, MARIA PILAR, SAYING: "These (effigies) are like the Judases who have betrayed our country and have made us like we are and have left us unable to live. You can't live… there's no medicine, there's no food." EFFIGIES OF MADURO AND HIS CABINET BURNING AND HANGING FROM A HIGHWAY OVERPASS VARIOUS OF BURNING EFFIGY HANGING FROM A HIGHWAY OVERPASS VARIOUS OF EFFIGIES BURNING AND PEOPLE WATCHING EFFIGIES REPRESENTING THE OPPOSITION LINED UP IN CHAIRS CLOSE-UP OF AN EFFIGY REPRESENTING THE PRESIDENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY, JULIO BORGES VARIOUS OF GOVERNMENT SUPPORTERS HANGING AN EFFIGY OF OAS SECRETARY-GENERAL, LUIS ALMAGRO (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) GOVERNMENT SUPPORTER, MARIA LOURDES SUAREZ, SAYING: "The end of Holy Week is the burning of Judas. Here we are burning traitors." CLOSE-UP OF AN EFFIGY OF OPPOSITION FIGURE, LILIAN TINTORI PICTURE OF TINTORI'S HUSBAND AND JAILED OPPOSITION LEADER, LEOPOLDO LOPEZ, PINNED TO THE TINTORI EFFIGY TINTORI EFFIGY GOING UP IN FLAMES VARIOUS OF OPPOSITION EFFIGIES IN FLAMES
- Embargoed: 1st May 2017 01:42
- Keywords: Venezuela Easter religion politics Nicolas Maduro Leopoldo Lopez Lilian Tintori
- Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- City: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
- Country: Venezuela
- Topics: Religion/Belief,Society/Social Issues
- Reuters ID: LVA0016CSCK03
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Residents of Caracas used Easter Sunday to vent some political steam by torching effigies of the country's least popular political figures.
Effigies of President Nicolas Maduro were doused in lighter fluid and went up in smoke as neighbours stood by and watched with glee.
The effigy burnings are a twist on an Easter tradition to burn effigies of Judas for his betrayal of Christ as told in the Christian Bible.
"These (effigies) are like the Judases who have betrayed our country and have made us like we are and have left us unable to live. You can't live… there's no medicine, there's no food," said one resident who came out with a Maduro effigy, Maria Pilar.
The oil-rich but crisis-shaken Venezuela has been convulsed by escalating protests over the last two weeks amid a punishing recession and accusations that Maduro has seized dictatorial powers.
Seeing momentum on their side, opposition leaders have been urging Venezuelans to keep up the pressure across the country.
But opposition figures were also targets to be torched this Easter.
Maduro supporters likened opposition politicians and even the Secretary-General of the Organisation of American States, Luis Almagro, to Judas.
"The end of Holy Week is the burning of Judas. Here we are burning traitors," said government supporter Maria Lourdes Suarez. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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