Venezuela opposition sit-in blocked; wife of jailed opposition leader says he was offered deal

Record ID: 878254

  • Title: Venezuela opposition sit-in blocked; wife of jailed opposition leader says he was offered deal
  • Date: 5th June 2017
  • Summary: CARACAS, VENEZUELA (JUNE 5, 2017) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF NATIONAL GUARD AND NATIONAL POLICE FORCES FIRING TEAR GAS PROTESTERS RUNNING POLICE FIRING TEAR GAS VARIOUS OF POLICE FIRING TEAR GAS AT PROTESTERS OUTSIDE MALL CLOUDS OF TEAR GAS VARIOUS OF PROTESTER WITH COVERED FACE, CARRYING VENEZUELA FLAG (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) OPPOSITION LAWMAKER, JUAN REQUESENS, SAYING: "They awoke today repressing our people, stealing from our people and they attacked lawmaker Miguel Pizarro with a shield placed on his mouth. I was thrown into an open drain hole. Violence cannot win over people's desire for change. We are peacefully challenging authorities. We are struggling to change our situation." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS NEAR BARRICADE LILIAN TINTORI, WIFE OF JAILED OPPOSITION LEADER LEOPOLDO LOPEZ, WALKING (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LILIAN TINTORI, WIFE OF OPPOSITION LEADER LEOPOLDO LOPEZ, SAYING: "Leopoldo would never negotiate his freedom before the freedom of Venezuela. Leopoldo has resisted, he has put up with too much. It has been 3 years and 3 months in a military prison-- isolated, in solitary confinement, tortured, like other families of other political prisoners. Today, there are 230 political prisoners in Venezuela and they must all be freed." OPPOSITION MEMBERS AT RALLY (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) LILIAN TINTORI, WIFE OF OPPOSITION LEADER LEOPOLDO LOPEZ, SAYING: "They asked nothing of him. They spoke to him about the country. They spoke to him about achieving peace. And Leopoldo's response was very simple-- they also offered him house arrest and Leopoldo said, 'All the political prisoners should be released, not just me. In order to achieve peace in Venezuela, the first thing that must happen is for the National Guard to put down their weapons." (SOUNDBITE) (Spanish) PROTESTER, MARLENE ARMAS, SAYING: "We have been tolerating this for 18 years and we have reached our limit after starving, people are dying of hunger, there is a lack of medicine. We have been kidnapped in our own country by a narco government." VARIOUS OF PROTESTERS NEXT TO BARRICADE WITH POSTERS VARIOUS OF PEOPLE RUNNING
  • Embargoed: 19th June 2017 18:52
  • Keywords: deal Lopez Tintori Maduro opposition protest
  • Location: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
  • City: CARACAS, VENEZUELA
  • Country: Venezuela
  • Topics: Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0016K057BB
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:Venezuelan security forces on Monday (June 5) blocked opposition sit-in protests, in various parts of capital Caracas, against President Nicolas and fired tear gas to disperse knots of demonstrators and chased masked youth into a nearby mall.
    Two Venezuelan lawmakers said they were roughed up with one pushed into a manhole by soldiers, among chaotic scenes around Caracas.
    Speaking to reporters in Plaza Altamira, one of the main opposition congregation points, Lilian Tintori, wife of jailed opposition leader Leopoldo Lopez, said that authorities had offered him a deal to swap prison for house arrest, but he rejected it.
    At the weekend, former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero and Venezuelan Foreign Minister Delcy Rodriguez visited Lopez at Ramo Verde prison. Tintori subsequently released a video secretly filmed by Lopez in prison, urging protesters to stay in the streets but behave peacefully.
    Security forces have been quick to snuff out rallies in recent days as Maduro foes enter their third month of protests to demand general elections, freedom for jailed activists, foreign humanitarian aid and autonomy for the opposition-controlled National Assembly.
    The government calls the protesters violent coup-mongers, supported by the United States.
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